Prairie Grove Baseball, Softball Roundup

BEN MADRID ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove senior J.D. Speed tries to prevent a run and throw out a baserunner at home plate.
BEN MADRID ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove senior J.D. Speed tries to prevent a run and throw out a baserunner at home plate.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- The Prairie Grove Tiger baseball and softball teams both enjoyed tremendous successes last week which included each team going on the road and winning their 4A-1 season opener at Ozark.

The Tiger baseball squad (8-3,1-0) in particular had a triumphant week with their 6-1 win over the Hillbillies of Ozark on April 1, followed by a 5-1 victory over Walnut Ridge, Mo., and a 4-0 victory over Carl Junction, Mo., last weekend at the Branson/Hollister Festival.

The Lady Tigers softball team opened their week with a 9-1 victory over the Greenland Pirates last March 31, before traveling to Ozark to dispatch the Hillbillies 4-3 in extra innings. The Ladies lost a little momentum later in the week when they dropped four contests at the River City Rumble tournament held at Van Buren on Friday and Saturday.

Tiger Baseball

Against the Hillbillies in the 4A-1 conference season opener, Logan Gragg was nearly untouchable on the mound, throwing 7 innings, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 10 batters. Offensively, Spencer Kilgore recorded 1 RBI on a 3 of 4 performance and Ty Tice had 3 RBIs on 2 hits to lead the Tigers.

More stellar pitching against Walnut Ridge helped Prairie Grove take down the Bobcats 5-1. The pitching trio of Brandon May, Kilgore and Sam Dodd all combined to pitch a no-hitter against the Bobcats, with Dodd, who came on and pitched the scoreless seventh inning, earning the victory after the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the final frame to take a 5-1 lead. On offense, Tice and Nick Sugg each had two hits, with Tice also recording 1 RBI.

Gavin Heltemes capped off a week of dominant pitching performances when he blanked Carl Junction, allowing just 5 hits over 7 innings of work in Prairie Grove's 4-0 win. J.D. Speed led the Tigers at the plate with 1 hit and 2 RBIs.

"We are pitching really well," said Tigers' coach Mich Cameron. "We've walked a few too many at times, but our defense has stepped up to fill in the gap. I've said all along if we pitch and play defense well, our offense will find a way to score runs and we should be able to win some games."

Lady Tiger Softball

During the March 31 9-1 win over the Greenland Pirates, pitcher Madison Skelton scattered 4 hits over 7 innings, giving up just 1 run in the seventh frame, while striking out 9 batters. Skelton and Madison Cluck paced the offense with 1 hit and 2 RBIs apiece, while Allison Skelton and Valarie Shepherd pitched in with 1 hit and 1 RBI each.

Against the Hillbillies in their conference opener, Makenzie Terry (2 for 3, 1 RBI) doubled home Allison Skelton in extra innings (8th Inning) for the game-winning RBI. Madison Skelton twirled all 8 innings (3 runs, 3 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 base-on-balls) including the scoreless final frame for the win. Anna Kidd (3 for 4,1 RBI), McKenzie Evans (2 for 2, 1 RBI) and Terry all shined for the Tigers on offense.

The Tigers (5-8) ran into a roadblock when they travelled to Van Buren for the River City Rumble tournament. Host Van Buren dispatched the Tigers 1-0 in a 4 inning affair, and the Vilonia Eagles dropped Prairie Grove 7-0 with both games played on Friday. On Saturday the Tigers fell 6-2 to the Southside Rebels, then concluded their tournament with a 9-0 loss to the Harber Wildcats.

Sports on 04/09/2014