Lady Hornets bounce back to beat Conway in key league tilt
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).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
If you keep winning conference games, it doesn’t matter what you do in the non-conference, the State Tournament is in your future.
Bouncing back from a disappointing 2-0 loss to arch-rival (but non-conference) Benton, the Bryant Lady Hornets earned their second AAAAA-Central Conference win in as many games, 2-0, over the Conway Lady Cats on Tuesday, March 14.
Christen Kirchner and Kara Vaughan combined on the five-hit shutout, but the key, according to Lady Hornets head coach Lisa Spears, was the improved defense.
“I told them it was going to come together for them if they kept working,” Spears said. “We’ve had so many unearned runs to win ballgames for other people. I told them if we cut that out, our hitting would come.”
Bryant had five hits too and struck out 13 times against Conway’s Schylar Dake. But they bunched three of those hits in the third inning to get all the runs they’d need.
Kirchner led off with a double. Kristen Dorsey followed with a sharp single to left taking second on a late throw to third. Tyler Cox then blasted a double to the fence in left-center to chase both of them home.
The Lady Hornets still suffered a couple of errors in the game but were able to overcome them with pitching and other defensive plays.
In the second, Mallory Fiddler’s fly to left was dropped, putting her at second with no one out. She moved up to third on a wild pitch but the next batter, Kristen Shock, trying to bunt, lined to Cox, charging in hard from first. Kirchner struck out Bailey Prout then got the final out on a weak grounder to Sarah Hart at second.
In the sixth, a lead-off error allowed Tia Houston to reach base. J.B. Davis followed with a single but Vaughan, facing the middle of the Conway batting order, struck out the next two and got the third out on another bouncer to Hart.
Dake only allowed two more hits to the Lady Hornets after the third. Hailey King singled with one out in the fourth and swiped second but was stranded. In the sixth, Hart had a hit.
In the seventh, Vaughan retired the first two Lady Cats before giving up a single to Kara Dell. But she got the final out to leave her stranded and end the game.
“They needed that,” Spears said of her team. “We’ve just had a really, really tough schedule to start the season. And we always start off slow.”
Now 3-5 overall, the Lady Hornets break from conference with a trip to Sheridan on Thursday, March 16, then take off for spring break before returning to action at Greenbrier on Friday, March 31.
