PRAIRIE GROVE -- Four Prairie Grove softball players received All-Conference honors, while another was listed for All-Conference honorable mention recognition for the 2021 season.
Outfielder Kelsey Pickett and shortstop Makinsey Parnell drew All-Conference awards for their senior season while classmate, Sydney Stearman (second base), got All-Conference honorable mention. A pair of underclassmen, Rhianna Umfleet, who split time at catcher, and leadoff hitter Elizabeth Stoufer (center fielder), were named All-Conference for their sophomore season.
The senior class, which also included Karaline McConnell, Maddie Hutchinson, Zoie Hornback and Anna Autrey, helped Prairie Grove finish 13-11 overall and reach the 4A North Regional for the first time since 2017.
An early season nonconference shootout against Springdale Har-Ber on March 8 illustrated the Lady Tigers' resilience. The game went eight innings before Prairie Grove pulled off a 13-12 victory despite surrendering five home runs on the day.
Prairie Grove nailed down a walk-off win by scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning in a contest that resembled a low-scoring football game or, from an earlier era in girls' athletics, a slow-pitch softball game.
Har-Ber scored one run in the top of the eighth, edging in front, 12-11, part of the Lady Wildcats' 18-hit offense topped off by five home runs. Brianna Crowley, Jaxin Logue, Madison Pratt, Jaiden Tuck and Sophie Wood each went yard for the Lady Wildcats. Logue also doubled twice and Wood drove in three runs.
Prairie Grove countered by blasting a quartet of extra-base hits led by Umfleet going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Sydney Stearman and Charity Stearman drove in two runs each while McConnell also drove in two runs.
The teams traded punches throughout the contest. Har-Ber took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held a 6-3 lead after three innings of play. Prairie Grove seized the lead by pushing 4 runs across in the bottom of the fifth to move ahead, 8-7. The Lady Tigers trailed by a run coming into the bottom of the seventh, but rallied to send the game into extra innings.
In the eighth inning, Umfleet's RBI double scored Pickett from second to tie the score at 12-12, and Charity Stearman's sacrifice bunt drove in Autumn Spatz from second base with the game-winner.
March 8, 2021
At Prairie Grove
Prairie Grove 13, Springdale Har-Ber 12 (8 Innings)
Springdale Har-Ber (1-2) ......231^102^21^--^12^18^4
Prairie Grove (3-1) .....012^142^12^--^13^17^3
Prairie Grove 8, Rogers Heritage 6
Prairie Grove shored up its defense, holding onto an 8-6 lead edging Rogers Heritage after the Lady War Eagles pushed three runs across in the bottom of the seventh.
Prairie Grove (4-1) built an 8-3 lead going into Heritage's last at-bat then had to hang on to maintain a win on Tuesday, March 9.
Stoufer proved to be a tough out for the Lady Tigers, with 3-for-4 showing at the plate with a double and triple. Umfleet was effective with her bat going 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs, and Parnell went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Prairie Grove.
The Lady Tigers captured a 1-0 lead right off the bat by pushing a run across in the top of the first inning. Prairie Grove added three runs in the third and three more in the fourth and an insurance run in the sixth.
The Lady War Eagles (2-2) mounted a rally with three runs in the seventh, narrowing Prairie Grove's lead down to a pair of runs, at 8-6.
Prairie Grove was solid on defense, committing a single error and stranding 11 base runners, one of whom was hit by a pitch, and overcoming five Lady War Eagles reaching base on balls. Prairie Grove coach Dave Torres said he emphasizes a philosophy to limit an opponent to 21 outs.
"If we can do that, we'll be successful. If not, we'll struggle," he said.
Heritage went 6-for-32 at the plate. Five of their hits were timely singles with the Lady War Eagles accounting for six RBIs. Josephine Patten went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, while Maddie Pollock was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Paige Morrall was 2-for-3.
Taylor Moseley went the distance for Heritage and absorbed the loss. She allowed eight runs, four of them earned, on 10 hits with four walks and striking out four through seven innings.
March 9, 2021
At Rogers
Prairie Grove 8, Rogers Heritage 6
Prairie Grove (4-1) .....103^301^0^--^8^10^1
Rogers Heritage (2-2) ......000^300^3^--^6^10^6
W -- Kincaid (4-1), L -- Moseley (0-5).