GRAVETTE -- Four times Lincoln faced elimination and four times they rallied until prevailing at last, 11-10, in a 10-inning first-round 4A-1 District softball tournament game against Gentry Thursday.
The Lady Wolves lost a semifinal game, 3-1, to District 4A-1 Tournament host Gravette on Friday, before beating Prairie Grove, 11-1, to claim third place.
Facing Gentry, the cards were stacked against them in extra innings. The Lady Wolves hadn't scored since a 5-run third inning flipped a 2-0 Gentry second-inning advantage into a 5-2 Lincoln lead.
Gentry moved a base-runner to third with a sacrifice-bunt to start the eighth inning. The runner was held on a ground-out. Gentry scored a go-ahead run on and RBI double off the left corner wall by Tana Chapman. The play accounted for the Lady Pioneers' 13th hit of the game, but the at-bat ended on a tight play with Lincoln barely throwing out Xitlali Estrada on a ground-out to shortstop.
Libby Calico began the eighth as Lincoln's base-runner. Kaitlyn Lankford wasted no time in driving her in, cranking up a 1-1 pitch into right field to knot the score, at 6-6, and force a ninth inning. Gentry bombed Lincoln for 18 hits including a 2-run homer by Lady Pioneer starting pitcher Alyssa Kelton to open the ninth. The home-run gave Gentry an 8-6 lead with a base-runner placed on second, per international tie-breaker softball rules.
There were no outs at that juncture and Gentry catcher Taylor Hull blasted a 3-1 pitch into left field for a single, but Lincoln refused to give in and found a way to staunch Gentry's momentum. Left fielder Malorie Pershall hustled to catch a flyball in foul territory. A second runner got on for Gentry, but Massey induced another flyout, this time into right field followed by a pop-up to second base.
Kinley Webb got ahead 3-1, then took a called-strike for a full-count. She then gamely belted a double scoring the base-runner to start Lincoln's half of the ninth. After an out, Tristan Cunningham singled, driving the runner to third and moving to second herself on a throw across the diamond. Pershall's sacrifice bunt evened the score at 8-8.
Lincoln coach Beau Collins might have pitched around Alyssa Kelton in the top of the tenth, except the bases were loaded with a walk and single in front of her. Alyssa Kelton continued her hot bat with a 2-run double smash into center field giving Gentry their third extra-inning lead, at 10-8, with one out. Again, Lincoln made a stand. Massey induced a pop-up to Corbit at shortstop, then issued a walk to pinch-hitter sophomore Mandy Barber, before getting Stanfield to ground-out with the bases loaded.
One more time, the contest came down to Lincoln's last at-bat. Lankford's leadoff single landed in right field, but the runner was held on second. Corbit hit a line-drive to third base, but this time there was no double-play for Gentry. Madison Jones hit into a fielder's choice with a pinch-runner tagged out at the plate for the second out. Down to their last out, Massey stepped into the batter's box with runners at first and second. She smashed a 1-0 pitch deep into the far left corner. Gentry nearly ended the game there, but dropped the ball and two runs scored on the error tying the game at 10-10.
Freshman Morgan Coker-Gage came in as a courtesy-runner for Massey at second and scored the game-winning run when Kinley Webb's grounder was mishandled allowing her to reach on an error. A roar of cheers from the Lady Wolves drowned out the sighs of the Lady Pioneers as the marathon game ended with Lincoln winning, 11-10, to stay alive in the post-season.
Gentry took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on runs by Dali Stevens and April Harris. In the bottom of the third, Gentry errors allowed the Lady Wolves to take a 5-2 lead. Two runs in the top of the fourth and one in the sixth brought Gentry into a tie with the Lady Wolves going into the seventh inning. Neither team scored in the seventh sending the game into extra innings with Gentry taking a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth. Lincoln battled back and forced a ninth inning.
Gentry coach Paul Ernest said he would take the blame for the loss.
"I felt like this team was good enough to go to Regional, we just didn't do it," Ernest said. "We played them (Lincoln) three times this year and two out of the three games ended like that with the ball in our glove and we didn't make the play."
Sports on 05/03/2017