Lady Hornets upend Benton
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
After suffering their first defeat of the season in an error-plagued game at home against the Texarkana Lady Razorbacks on Tuesday, the Bryant Lady Hornets came back on Thursday to pin the first loss of the season on the rival Benton Lady Panthers in an error-free effort at Tyndall Park.
The results, along with other action around the league, left Bryant, Benton, Texarkana, Lake Hamilton and Sheridan tied at 2-1 atop the AAAAA-South Conference.
The Lady Hornets are 4-1 overall going into their trip to El Dorado on Thursday, March 22, their final outing before spring break.
The Bryant defense and pitcher Jennifer Smith made a three-run second hold up for victory over Benton which came into the game unbeaten overall this season as well as within league play. The Lady Panthers worked five walks out of Smith but stranded nine baserunners.
Benton got runners to second and third in the first inning but couldn’t score. Then, the second-inning uprising for the Lady Hornets began with a walk to Mistica Phillips. Kelly Bennett, who went 3-for-3 in the game, followed with a single. An out later, Rachel Blakley drove in the first run with a base hit. Courtney Stone, running for Bennett, scored on an error, then Smith drove in Blakley with a grounder to second.
The Lady Panthers used a walk and a pair of singles to get a run across in the fourth. In the fifth, a two-out single by Amber Ashley started another rally. Ashley scored on a double by Rebekah Billingsley. Niki Caldwell followed with a single and Billingsley tried to score only to be gunned down at the plate by Bryant left-fielder Lindsey Stone.
Meanwhile, the Lady Hornets’ offense was all but shut down. Bennett’s lead-off single in the fourth led to nothing and a lead-off walk to Allison Mitchem in the fifth went for naught. In the sixth, a one-out single by Bennett was erased when Courtney Stone, in her stead as a courtesy runner, was thrown out trying to steal.
But Smith and the Lady Hornets’ defense silenced the Benton offense in the bottom of the sixth to help regain some of the momentum. Benton was retired in order on a fly to center, a pop to the catcher and a strikeout.
And the offense responded with an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Benton’s defense broke down. Blakley reached on an error at first to lead off the inning and the Lady Hornets made the Lady Panthers pay. Smith sacrificed Blakley to second then Stacy Workman came through with a clutch RBI single to right-center to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the inning, a lead-off walk put Smith under the gun but she struck out the next batter. Jodie Scott looped a single to center to put runners at second and third but a fly to right and a pop that Smith grabbed put the finishing touches on the win.
The victory was the result of a couple of days of intense practice after a disappointing effort against Texarkana on Tuesday. The Lady Hornets were plagued by errors — six of them — and walks — 11 of them.
Still, it wasn’t until a six-run fifth that Texarkana blew the game open.
Three errors contributed to a Lady Razorback run in the first and two more helped produce a second run in the fourth to make it 2-0.
Meanwhile, Texarkana’s freshman pitcher Dayna Huckabee held the Lady Hornets hitless through five innings. A single by Lindsey Sullivan in the bottom of the sixth finally broke up the no-hitter and the Lady Hornets wound up with three hits in the game — all in the three-run sixth.
But that came after the six-run fifth that featured a grand slam by Texarkana’s Kristen Jeans and a two-run double by Casey Jeans.
