FARMINGTON -- The Lady Lions softball team took on a trio of very tough opponents over the weekend during the Farmington-Fayetteville softball tournament.
Gravette beat 7A Fort Smith Southside, 6-5, on Friday before losing 5-0 to 7A Conway on Saturday and facing elimination, 5-1, at the hands of 4A power Pottsville on Saturday.
Gravette took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Southside bats were up for the challenge. Paige Mendoza tripled, scoring on Madison Hill's bunt single. Tori Taylor's ground-out scored Hill and a third run came in on an error. Gravette starter Lindsee LaBrecque induced Kylie Hall to fly out to end the inning, and the Lady Lions went to work on offense.
Destiny Laymon bunted and came home on Jessica Crawley's hit up the middle, which she turned into a triple. The run tied the game at 3-3 and Gravette went ahead, 4-3, on LaBrecque's bunt. Emily Miller drove in another run but was tagged for the third out trying to reach third. Gravette stretched the lead to 6-4 on Jaki Chalk's RBI double only to watch Southside cut it to 6-5 on passed ball.
The Lady Lions made a stand defensively in the fourth inning, getting Aliyah Jackson out at first. Then on a 3-1 pitch Sharp hit a ball that could have been trouble except for the alertness of Crawley, who hustled to field the ball and throw her out.
"That was a big play by our second baseman Jessica Crawley against one of their better hitters. We were trying to pitch away from her and she did what she's supposed to do, she went to the opposite field. But Jessica was quick enough to get over there and get it, so I was real proud of that," said Gravette coach Taos Jones.
LaBrecque ended the game by getting Hill to ground-out.
Conway 5
Gravette 0
On Saturday, Conway scored a run in the top of the first to go in front, 1-0. An error and bobbled throw allowed a second run to score in the top of the third, leading to a 3-run inning for Conway. The Wampus Cats, who also defeated 4A-1 Prairie Grove and former league opponent Farmington in the tourney, went on to win 5-0. Gravette had just 2 hits while committing 3 errors and leaving 6 runners stranded.
LeBrecque took the loss, surrendering 5 runs on 6 hits. With the loss, competition shifted to Lady Dawg Park at Fayetteville, co-host of the tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Pottsville 5
Gravette 1
FAYETTEVILLE -- Pottsville took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and upped their advantage to 3-0 in the top of the third. Gravette put a run across in their half of the third, narrowing the gap to 3-1. Crawley singled with one out, then raced to third on LaBecque's single. Jaye Chalk doubled to bring Crawley home, and the Lady Lions loaded the bases on a bunt but were unable to score any additional runs.
Pottsville put up two more runs in the top of the fourth and, although the game went five innings -- unusually long for the two-day tournament with a time limit of 70 minutes per game, Gravette was unable to produce any more scoring and lost, 5-1.
Sports on 03/25/2015