State Softball Wrap-Up

For the second straight year, Elkins captured the 3A state title in mid-May. Behind the pitching of senior Amber Caywood and taking advantage of errors, the Lady Elks (30-2) eased past Bismarck, 5-1 at Lady 'Back Yard in Fayetteville. "We knew we had the potential, and it was a possibility to win it this year," Elkins coach Paula Wheeler said of the state title. "Once we kept winning and accomplishing everything, we decided to finish it out." Caywood, who was named tourney MVP and HSSTM's Softball Player of the Year, was able to work with an early 3-0 lead after two innings. Carly Powers sealed the victory with a two-out double in the fifth. They are two of five seniors who helped the Lady Elks also win the regional title and conference championships. "They started a tradition, and we'll have some big shoes to fill," Wheeler said. "They've just been phenomenal this year." Also making the 3A state tournament were Cedarville, Charleston and Pea Ridge. Cedarville and Charleston suffered first-round losses while Pea Ridge advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Smackover 6-5. Meanwhile, the Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs came up short in their bid for a third consecutive 7A title. Meeting North Little Rock for the second year in a row, the two teams played almost the same script as last year. This time North Little Rock won 1- 0 in eight innings. Last year, the Lady Bulldogs were 3-2 victors in eight innings. However, Fayetteville (29-4) did claim its fifth straight conference title. "I'm proud of the girls, and they gave everything they had from the first day of practice," Fayetteville coach Jason Shirey said. 'We were in the area and on the field for the state title. I'm just proud of them." North Little Rock pitcher and MVP Jessica Sheldon threw a no-hitter and struck out 17 batters. In the Lady Bulldogs' bottom of the eighth, Jessica Booher and Whitlee McGill both reached base before Sheldon retired the next three batters in order for the victory. "We really didn't put a lot of pressure on them," Shirey said. "They had easy outs." To get the finals, North Little Rock defeated Bentonville, 1-0. Van Buren advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to Bryant 4-3. The Lady Bulldogs beat Bryant 7-3 to advance to the finals. Rogers, Northside and Southside suffered first-round losses. In the 5A state tournament, Alma accomplished something it has never done. The Airedalettes got past the second round game and advanced to the semifinals where they suffered a 7-2 loss to eventual state champion Nettleton. Alma also won the conference title for the first time and did all of this with no seniors, so the Airedalettes will be back. "We didn't have any returning starters from last year," Alma coach Charla Parrish said. "No one expected us to do what we've done. One of the big keys is from top to bottom our conference is one of the toughest." Harrison won its first state-tournament game before losing in the quarterfinals 4-3 to Malvern, a state finalist. In the 4A state tournament, Farmington was upset in a 6-3 first-round loss to DeWitt.