Lady Pioneers pick up win at home against Greenland

Gentry junior Sikora Ruiz hits a ground ball in play against Greenland at Gentry High School on Friday.
Gentry junior Sikora Ruiz hits a ground ball in play against Greenland at Gentry High School on Friday.

— The Gentry Lady Pioneers took on the Springdale Lady Bulldogs Wednesday at Springdale, but with three hits and three runs, the Lady Pioneers couldn't keep up as the Lady Bulldogs hit into every hole to score 10 runs. The final score was 10-3 Springdale.

The Lady Pioneer junior varsity team fared better, with 10 hits to score nine runs, and a scrappy defense that held the Lady Bulldogs JV to eight runs. The final score 9-8 Gentry, with Shannea Smartt pitching.

On Thursday, the Lady Pioneers took on the Rogers Heritage Lady War Eagles in War Eagle territory. Gentry's lead-off batter Suzanna Sikes reached base on a single, followed by a single hit by Sikora Ruiz. Sikes scored on an error.

Early Lady Pioneer errors in the bottom of the first allowed the Lady War Eagles the lead, before two fly outs to Rindy Hudson at shortstop brought the inning to a close with a score of 2-1 Lady War Eagles. A nice double play in the second inning by War Eagle's Linn held the Lady Pioneers to a single hit, but the Lady Pioneers answered with a quick three-up-three-down bottom half. Rogers scored three runs on two hits in the fourth to make it 5-1. A twoout rally started by Shannea Smartt with a single, to score on a single by Suzanna Sikes, who was also brought in on a double by Hudson, bringing the score to a final 5-3, Lady War Eagles.

The JV team got some valuable practice against the Lady War Eagles JV with a high-scoring game of 18-16, with the War Eagles coming out on top. Smartt pitched in the game.

Early play against tough teams paid off for the Lady Pioneers Friday when they took on Greenland at home. Greenland put the first run on the board in the second inning with a hit-to-thefence double by A. Rogers, who then scored on a hit by Cloud. Depew singled to score Cloud.

Gentry answered with a stand-up triple by Josie Graves-Long, scoring on a passed ball to add a run to the board. The Lady Pirates were unable to add runs, despite another hit by Rogers in the top of the third. The Lady Pioneers added three runs with singles by Suzanna Sikes, Ruiz and Hudson, followed by a double to center by Smartt. The Lady Pirates scored three more in the fifth before a nice heads-up double play by Ruiz and Suzanna Sikes brought the Lady Pirates down.

A double play by Lady Pirate's Rogers and Williams ended the game with a nice Lady Pioneer 14-8 win. Sarah Hogan pitched for the win.

In the JV game, Courtney Folker, Karoline Page and Shelby Quintana were all brought home by a beautiful stand-up double hit by Rebecca Evans in the first inning. Alexia Gonzales brought in two runswith a double to the left-field fence. Taylor Enlow tripled in the fourth, and was scored by Gonzales. Smartt was brought home by a Hudson single. The final score was Lady Pioneers 7, Lady Pirates 5.

Sports, Pages 9 on 03/16/2011