Adjustments help Lady Hornets rebound from season’s first loss
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).
You win some, you lose some and some get rained out — and the Bryant Lady Hornets softball team got a taste of all three last week.
The Lady Hornets suffered their first defeat of the season, 6-5, at Sylvan Hills on Thursday but came back the next day to pound defending AAAA-South Conference champion Pine Bluff 12-0. Monday, Bryant buried Arkansas Baptist 23-4 before having their first home game (and AAAAA-Southwest Conference tilt) with Little Rock McClellan rained out.
Thursday’s defeat was a frustrating one for the Lady Hornets who trailed most of the game but had runners at first and second and no one out in the top of the seventh and were unable to push across a tying run.
Sylvan Hills, which improved to 7-0 on the season with the win, scored twice in the bottom of the first to gain the upper hand initially. Bryant took a brief lead in the top of the third. Elise Snider led off the inning with a single and, after two were out, Jill Glenn kept the inning alive with a base hit. Andrea Hammock and Jenna White followed with back-to-back triples to make it 3-2.
But White was stranded at third.
Sylvan Hills got all of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead, 5-3.
It stayed that way until the Lady Bears added a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Bryant began a comeback in the top of the sixth. With one out, Hammock and White singled. Kim Adams delivered the run with a sacrifice fly. Kelly Bennett also singled but that’s all the Lady Hornets could muster.
In the seventh, Stacy Workman and Stephanie Kennedy each singled and when Snider reached on an error, the Lady Hornets were within a run of tying the game. But Kennedy and Snider were stranded and Sylvan Hills held on for the win.
Despite the varsity loss, the Lady Hornets junior varsity team came through with a 5-1 victory.
With Lady Hornets head coach Stacy Mallett making some lineup changes, the team came back strong on Friday at Pine Bluff.
The Fillies were limited to two baserunners in the game after the Lady Hornets struck for eight runs in the opening inning.
“It was a nice way to start after Thursday’s game,” Mallett said. “We hit really well.”
Mallett moved Courtney Stone into the lineup in left-center and moved Hammock to left. Tiffany Kennedy took over at shortstop with Meagan Clancy moving to third and Snider taking over the extra-hitter spot.
Mallett praised Tiffany Kennedy’s contribution at short, saying, “She really did a good job. She had five putouts and had no errors.”
Hammock continued her hot hitting with a 4-for-4 performance. She started and ended the eight-run first with base hits. Her opening single was followed by singles from White and Adams to produce the first run. Two outs later, Stephanie Kennedy fired up the offense again with a two-run triple. Consecutive singles by Clancy, Stone, Glenn and Hammock cranked up the merry-go-round.
Bryant added two more runs in the fourth. Again, Hammock instigated things, this time with a lead-off double. With one out, Adams singled to put runners at the corners. Bennett grounded into a force at second allowing Hammock to score. After Snider reached on an error, Stephanie Kennedy singled to plate Sarah Medlin, a courtesy runner for Bennett.
The Lady Hornets put the finishing touches on the victory in the top of the fourth. Clancy walked and scored when Stone reached on an error. With two down, Hammock once again came through, driving in Stone with a single.
The Bryant JV also had an easy go of it, crusing to a 15-0 win over Pine Bluff.
On Monday, Hammock ran her consecutive hit streak to eight with another 4-for-4 performance. The freshman outfielder improved to 12-of-15 at the plate for the season. Stacy Workman, another freshman, also went 4-for-4 against Arkansas Baptist. White, Snider and Clancy each had three hits and Stephanie Kennedy belted a long home run that split the right-center and left-center fielders to cap off Bryant’s 13-run fourth inning.
For the second game in succession, the Lady Hornets blasted their way to an eight-run first inning to take control of the game. It was 11-0 before Arkansas Baptist scored in the bottom of the third. Then, Bryant’s 13-run explosion in the fourth removed all doubt about the outcome.
The junior varsity notched another win, as well, easing to an 18-1 win.
“I feel good about where we’re at now,” Mallett related. “We’re starting to come together. We’ve got a bunch of girls that haven’t played much together, but they’ve got quite a bit of talent and it’s young talent.”
At 3-1, the Lady Hornets are scheduled to wrap up play before spring break this afternoon at Camden Fairview. The rained-out contest against McClellan has been rescheduled for April 9.
