Ward wallops home run in Gravette win

Gravette's lead-off batter, Meagan Ward, knocks one over the fence in the Lady Lions' first at-bat against Ozark on Monday.
Gravette's lead-off batter, Meagan Ward, knocks one over the fence in the Lady Lions' first at-bat against Ozark on Monday.

GRAVETTE - Meagan Ward doesn’t look like a power hitter. The Gravette shortstop and leadoff hitter is just a shade over 5-feet tall. But when she launched a towering home run over the left field wall in Monday’s 6-5 win against Ozark, there was nothing small about the spark it gave her team.

“That kid is a workhorse,” Gravette softball coach Taos Jones said. “She hits the ball, she has really great hands.

“It’s not every day she knocks one out. But she got a good chunk of that ball.”

The Lady Lions (3-5, 3-0 4A-1 Conference) trailed 3-0 in the first inning, but Ward’s blast, a solo shot, helped Gravette slowly chip away at Ozark’s lead.

Gravette sophomore pitcher Lindsee LaBrecque recovered after the shaky first and held Ozark (4-8) in check for the most part the rest of the way.

The Lady Lions took a 5-3 lead in the third inning with just one hit, but Ozark rallied to tie the score at 5-5 led by an RBI double by Jodie Allred in the fifth.

In the bottom of the seventh, Gravette’s Samantha Pruitt led off with a single and moved to third on a single. As Ashleigh Horn attempted to steal second, she collided with Ozark’s Marleigh Dietz as Ozark tried to bluff a throw to second. The ball rolled into center field, and Pruitt easily scored the gamewinner.

“I had my girl on third base ready to roll,” Jones said. "It wasn’t what I anticipated. I anticipated getting the bunt down for a suicide, but, hey, we’ll take it however we can get it."

Ward’s home run was the first-ever homer hit at Gravette’s new ballpark. She ended the day 2-for-3, with an intentional walk in the three-run third inning.

The Lady Lions will host Farmington on Thursday starting at 5 p.m.

Ozark 300 200 0 - 5 7 3 Gravette 113 000 1 - 6 7 3 McCartney and Smith; La-Brecque and Miller.

W - LaBrecque, 3-5.

L - McCartney.

HRs - Gravette, Ward (1).

Vanderpool dominant in Gravette win over Ozark

GRAVETTE - Ethan Vanderpool grinned a little as his pitch nicked the outside corner for a called third strike.

The Gravette junior right-hander was on his game Monday, and his five-hit, seven-strikeout performance was dominant in the Lions’ 5-1 win over Ozark in 4A-1 Conference action on Monday.

“Nothing seems to rattle him much,” Gravette baseball coach Dustin Dean said. "He’s calm on the mound, and the boys are calm.”

Vanderpool (3-1) rarely got into trouble Monday, and when he did, he was able to pitch out of it. Over the final four innings, he allowed just one base runner.

Gravette (6-5, 3-0 4A-1), which hosts Farmington on Thursday, put together enough offense, coupled with some Ozark (9-8, 1-2) mistakes, to take control of the game late. Jasper Russ was the catalyst for the Lions (6-5, 3-0) with a ringing two-run triple in the third inning that helped Gravette seize control. Russ’ triple drove in Wyatt Gibbons and Quinten Parker, who had singled.

But the night belonged to Vanderpool.

“He did a great job,” Ozark coach Matt Coleman said. “He threw strikes and he mixed up his pitches. And when he got in a bind he made the big pitch.”

The Lions won’t have much time to celebrate the win with unbeaten and top-ranked Farmington coming in Thursday.

“We’re confident,” Dean said. “We’ve had a couple of close losses that we’ve been able to grow from.” Ozark 010 000 0 - 1 5 2 Gravette 003 002 x - 5 4 1 Williams, McClure (4) and Walls; Vanderpool and Parker. W - Vanderpool, 3-1 .

L - Williams, 3-2. HRs - None.

Sports, Pages 7 on 04/03/2013