Lady Hornets claim title at Harrison tournament
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HARRISON — The Bryant Lady Hornets captured three close wins including one in extra-innings against Jacksonville, to capture the championship of the Harrison Tournament on Saturday, April 2. To add to the feat, the Lady Hornets beat the rival Benton Lady Panthers, 3-2, in the title game.
The wins came after a 4-2 loss at Greenbrier on Friday on the way to the tournament. The results leave the Lady Hornets 10-6 on the season. They were set to put their 2-0 record in the AAAAA-Central Conference on the line on Tuesday, April 5, at North Little Rock.
In the finals, Kara Vaughan who had pitched a one-hit shutout against Pea Ridge earlier in the day, started the game and went four innings. She struck out four and gave up both of Benton’s runs in the third inning.
Bryant had taken a 1-0 lead in the first. Amie Hubbard led off the inning with a single then stole second. Tyler Cox singled her to third then Amanda Grappe chased her home with a base hit.
After Benton took the lead, Cox came on to pitch in the fifth. She struck out the first three batters she faced then finished the game without giving up a hit.
The Lady Hornets rallied for the tying and eventual winning run in the fifth. Keisha Stickley led off the inning with a single but was forced on a grounder by Hubbard. But Hubbard stole second and Kaci Melhorn singled her to third. And when Cox reached base on an error, Hubbard scored to tie it.
Moments later, Bonnie Stroud, running for Melhorn, scored on a wild pitch to give Bryant the lead.
Amanda Grappe reached base all three times at the plate, with a single, a triple and a walk. Hubbard, Stickley, Melhorn, Cox and Vaughan had the other hits.
Against Jacksonville, Kelly Norman started in the pitcher’s circle for the Lady Hornets. She worked three innings, striking out three and giving up a Jacksonville run.
Bryant took a 2-1 lead in the third with Allison Grappe contributing a key single and Kristen Dorsey bringing in a run with a sacrifice bunt.
With the lead, Vaughan relieved in the fourth and went on to strike out nine, taking the lead into the seventh inning. But Jacksonville managed a run and had the bases loaded only to have Vaughan and the Lady Hornets get out of the jam and send the game into extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker in effect, the Lady Hornets opened the eighth inning with Lindsey Cason, who made the last out of the seventh, starting out at second base. Allison Grappe bunted Cason to third and, from there, she scored on a passed ball to snap the tie. Moments later, Dorsey scored to make it 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Jacksonville started with the tiebreaker runner at second but two groundouts and a strikeout followed and the Lady Hornets held on.
In the win over Pea Ridge, Vaughan didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning. And, at the plate, she went 2 for 3. Allison Grappe contributed a triple to the offense.
Walks and errors hurt the Lady Hornets on Friday at Greenbrier as Cox allowed just one hit over the first five innings. The Lady Panthers held a 1-0 lead when she gave way to Norman in the sixth. Greenbrier hacked out three doubles in the inning and added three runs to the lead.
For Bryant, Stickley, who had one of three hits for the team, scored, as did Laci Rowland. Hubbard and Allison Grappe had the other two hits, Grappe’s was a double.
