LINCOLN -- The third time around was not charmed for Lincoln as the Lady Wolves lost a heart-wrenching 1-0 first-round game to Heber Springs at the State 4A Softball tournament at Lonoke Thursday.
Thursday's state tournament contest marked the third straight first-round tournament game in which Lincoln has gone to extra innings with all decided by one run.
The trend began April 27 in District 4A-1 competition against Gentry with Lincoln winning, 11-10, in 10 innings. The scenario repeated a week later with Lincoln going 11 innings against Dardanelle May 5 at the 4A North Regional held at Dover. Lincoln and Dardanelle were tied, 5-5, at the end of seven innings. Both teams scored 3 runs in the eighth inning, and 1 run in both the ninth and tenth innings, before the Lady Wolves added a run in the top of the 11th, then held off the Sandlizards in their final at-bat.
The difference in the state tournament game was that Lincoln didn't have a breakthrough inning. Against Gentry on April 27, Lincoln scored 5 runs in the bottom of the third inning. Against Dardanelle, the Lady Wolves had 5 runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-0 lead after three innings of scoreless play. Facing Heber Springs, Lincoln couldn't get their offense going, but they stayed in the contest by excelling on defense.
Heber Springs starting pitcher senior Tess Temple, who has signed a letter of intent to play for Williams Baptist in the fall, has had dominating performances this year. Three weeks ago, she pitched a complete game and retired all 21 batters in order, finishing with 13 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Central Arkansas Christian during the 4A-2 District tournament.
In Thursday's first-round State 4A game, Lincoln only had 2 hits in the contest. Tristan Cunningham was 1 for 3 and Kinley Webb was 1 for 3. Both had singles. As a team, the Lady Wolves were a combined 2 for 25 in the batter's box and struck out 12 times. Madison Jones had a pair of bases on balls. Cunningham had a stolen base.
Like Lincoln, Heber Springs has been in some battles and won some hotly-contested tournament games to reach state. After the 5-0 win over CAC, the Panthers held off Southside Batesville, 2-0, in the District 4A-2 semifinal April 27. They beat Stuttgart, 4-2, in the district finals before experiencing more of the same in Regional play. On May 6, Heber Springs slipped past Pocahontas, 2-1, in the first-round of Regionals to qualify for state. They beat Trumann, 4-3, in eight innings in the Regional semifinal May 8, then lost 5-0 to Stuttgart in the Regional championship.
Lincoln starter Aayden Massey and the Lady Wolves defense made the Panthers earn their 1-0 win. Lincoln only committed one error and Massey pitched 7.1 scoreless innings. She gave up only 4 hits and 2 bases on balls while striking out 4 while facing 26 batters.
Sports on 05/17/2017