Lady Hornets oust Springdale
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be 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).
By JAMES WILLIAMS
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The opportunistic Lady Hornets took advantage of 11 walks and four Springdale errors to oust their hosts, runners-up in the powerful AAAAA-West Conference. Lindsey Stone and Amie Hubbard each had two hits to lead the seven-hit Bryant offense which produced big innings in the second and the fourth to take control of the game.
Springdale managed a run in the bottom of the first without a hit, taking advantage of three walks and a Bryant error.
In the Lady Hornets’ second, Stone walked and swiped second. Rachael Blakley reached base on Springdale’s first error then Stone scored on a single by Andrea Hammock that was misplayed in right. Bryant took the lead for good when Blakley raced home when Stacy Workman’s grounder to second was botched. Hammock stole third and scored on a groundout by Lindsey Sullivan.
In the third, Stone singled, Blakley walked and Springdale’s third baseman booted Hammock’s grounder allowing Stone to score.
Springdale got that run back in the bottom of the inning, but the Lady Bulldogs could not overcome Bryant’s four-run fourth. The Lady Hornets worked for four walks in the inning which started with a single by Hubbard. Alison Mitchem provided a big blow with a pinch-hit RBI single.
Trailing 8-2, the Lady Bulldogs chipped at the lead with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Bryant tacked on another insurance run in the top of the seventh on two-out walks to Jeanne Randall and Misti Phillips. Ashley Grappe, running for Randall the Bryant catcher, took advantage of a pair of wild pitches to score.
Springdale added a meaningless tally in the bottom of the inning before the game ended dramatically with a doubleplay on a ball hit to Sullivan at second. After making a nice stab, she stepped on second for the force and fired to Workman at first to complete the play and the game.
