Lady Bulldogs going to Fayetteville

WYNNE — White Hall punched its ticket to the Class 5A state softball finale in Fayetteville with a 5-3 win over Greenbrier on Monday afternoon.

White Hall will square off against Vilonia at 3 p.m. Saturday at Bogle Park. Vilonia beat Alma 3-1 in Monday’s second semifinal.

Sydnee Clark overcame a sub-par pitching performance by her own standards and the Lady Bulldogs (25-8) capitalized on a couple of late Lady Panther miscues to reach the title game for the first time in school history.

“They have the confidence and believe in themselves,” White Hall coach Terri Smith said after turning a cartwheel in celebration following the game. “We are going all the way. We are going to Fayetteville. These girls have worked so hard and I am so happy for them.”

Clark breezed through the first four innings, needing only 37 pitches to dispose of Greenbrier’s lineup that managed just three hits of the Lady Dog ace. But the top-seeded Lady Panthers started working the count in the fifth, pushing Clark to 25 pitches and manufacturing a run on a hit, an error and a walk for a 1-0 lead.

“Yes, I was wearing down,” a shaking Clark said. “I was getting tired. But I had to keep fighting. I knew I had my defense behind me and my catcher back there so I felt goood about it.”

As Clark struggled through the sixth with 21 more pitches, Smith said she considered pulling the ace, but not for long, even as the Lady Panthers inched closer and closed the scoring gap to 4-3.

Southeast No. 2 seed White Hall, which was limited to just three hits through the first five innings of Greenbrier starter Aundra Hardin, finally found some holes in the Lady Panther defense in the top of the sixth. The 5A-West champion Lady Bulldogs scored four times on five hits, a hit batter and one key error.

Abby Weaver led off the frame with a solid single and Clark followed with a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. After a Karia Hall strikeout, one of three on the day for Hardin, Rachel Box followed with an RBI single to tie the game. Haley Baugh singled through the infield to load the bases for Lindsey Williams with one out.

Williams hit a ground ball to Brittany Merritt at shortstop, who attempted to cut down Clark at the plate. The throw was wide of its mark and trickled to the backstop, allowing an alert Box to capture the third run of the inning.

“I knew that anything I could do to get a run in would help the team,” Williams said. “Once it left my bat, I was just thinking I hope the run scores. Then I saw Rachel break for home and I thought ‘Get down, get down, get down.’”

Kayla Reap, who had doubled of the left-field wall the previous inning, then added an RBI single to plate Baugh as the Lady Dogs led 4-1 entering the botom of the frame. Box said she didn’t hesitate to swipe home in the crucial situation.

“I saw that nobody was at home and knew that if we had that one more run it would make a big difference,” Box said. “We just needed some insurance. We needed some runs to comfort Sydnee and calm her down. I saw that the pitcher and catcher were both going after the ball and nobody stayed to cover. I just saw that situation and took advantage of it.”

It turned out to be a turning point as Clark surrendered a pair of runs in the sixth, delivering another 20-plus pitch inning.

Clark issued her fourth walk of the game to load the bases. After a passed ball allowed one run to score, Courtney Edwards hit a ground ball to Box at third, which she failed to field, allowing another run to score. But Clark induced a ground ball to Austin Russell to end the threat.

White Hall added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Hall reached on an error by Slaughter at first and scored on an RBI single by Baugh.

Clark recorded two quick outs in the final frame before the Lady Panthers made it interesting with a walk and a single to put the potential tying runs on base. But with the pressure mounting, Clark coerced a ground ball out of Hardin and Box made the play at third, prompting a celebration from the first-base dugout.

Smith admitted that the Lady Dogs were somewhat intimidated by Greenbrier coming in.

“They kind of saw then that Greenbrier has holes, that Greenbrier can make mistakes,” Smith said. “Coming in we were like, Greenbrier is way up here. Now that’s us. We are on that cloud.”