CONWAY – The stellar pitching Sheridan enjoyed throughout the Arkansas Activities Association softball playoffs couldn’t slow down Benton’s bats on Thursday.
Benton defeated Sheridan 11-4 at Farris Field on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway, claiming the Class 5A state championship and denying Sheridan back-to-back titles.
Sheridan coach Scott Hoffman said Benton has been the best team in the state all season.
“When you make mistakes, it’s magnified,” Hoffman said. “They hurt you. Look, my kids just fought, man. They fought. That game could have been a mercy rule. It could have ran completely off the rails, but we kept challenging them every inning. Just hang in there, just fight.”
Sheridan (23-7), which won last year’s state championship 5-0 against Beebe, had allowed 1 run in its three prior games in the 5A state tournament. Starting pitcher Chloe Clark threw 15.2 scoreless innings across those three games last weekend.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Benton (32-2) tallied 12 hits and scored in every inning except the sixth, including multiple runs in each of the first three.
Lady Panter catcher Payton Stueart led the Benton offense, hitting 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Designated hitter AC Lackey hit 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and pinch hitter Chloe Bradley hit a 2-run home run in the fifth inning.
Benton led 2-0 before the first out of the game, with Stueart hitting a 2-RBI double. Sheridan third baseman Mason Wilson tied the game in the bottom of the first with a 2-RBI double of her own, also with no outs.
Hoffman said once Wilson got to third base, he called a squeeze play to go for the lead, anticipating a changeup from Benton pitcher Rexie Crane.
“If she throws that changeup, her normal changeup, which is pretty good, we bunt it, and Mason walks across the plate for a 3-2 lead because we called the squeeze,” Hoffman said. “But she threw a wild changeup way above our head. We couldn’t even stick a bat up and get it on it, and Mason got hung up. That kind of killed that rally. Maybe I shouldn’t have called that, but we got exactly what we thought we were going to get.”
The Lady Panthers retook the lead in the top of the second when first baseman Lakin Griffin scored on a wild pitch. Stueart added an RBI double later in the inning to make it 4-2, and Benton led the rest of the game.
Crane was named MVP after holding Sheridan to 3 earned runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and a walk in seven innings.
Wilson led the Lady Jackets’ offense with 3 RBIs after hitting 1 for 3. Second baseman and relief pitcher Cooper Terry had the other RBI. Shortstop Skylar Sterritt scored twice after hitting 1 for 3 and a walk, while center fielder Sadie Sterritt hit 2 for 3 and scored once.
After Hoffman addressed his team following the game, he took an extra moment to meet with his outgoing seniors. That class reached the state semifinals three times, the finals twice, and won a state championship last year.
“Two weeks ago, we were left for dead in the rankings,” Hoffman said. “People thought we were done. We were cooked, but (the seniors) just, they won’t quit fighting. They’re going to all be successful. All six of those seniors are going to be successful in life, because they’re going to get knocked down. There’s going to be tough days, but they don’t know how to quit. They’re going to be alright.”