Lincoln upends Lady Panthers

The Lincoln Lady Wolves softball team was already in the midst of a fine softball season heading into last weekend, and it got a little better after a tournament sweep in Siloam Springs.

The Lady Wolves won all four of their games and finished first in the 2016 Lady Panther Invitational at La-Z-Boy Park. Lincoln defeated tournament host Siloam Springs twice on Saturday, including a 9-8 victory in four innings in the tournament championship game.

All games were on a 70-minute time limit.

With Siloam Springs turning to its bench for pitching help late in the day Saturday, Lincoln scored a pair of runs to take the lead in the first inning and then scored six in the second to go up 8-3 in the championship round.

The Lady Panthers rallied with two runs in the third and three in the fourth, but the Lady Wolves were able to hold on for the 9-8 win.

"I'm extremely proud of my girls," said Lincoln coach Beau Collins. "They found a way to win. A couple of games we played really solid softball, solid defense."

Lincoln opened the tournament with a 3-0 win against Class 2A Hazen on Friday and then clubbed Greenland 9-1 on Saturday morning.

That set up the first matchup with Siloam Springs in the winner's semifinal, which Lincoln scored a pair of runs in the fourth to rally for a 2-1 victory.

Siloam Springs then beat Fort Smith Northside 8-3 to set up the finals.

Lincoln also overcame an injury scare in the second inning of the championship game when leadoff hitter Hollie Webb was injured diving back into second base.

Webb had to be carted off the field on a stretcher with a neck injury, but all indications after the game were she was going to be OK.

"For my players to bounce back after watching one of their own go down, I'm as happy about that as anything," Collins said.

Pitcher Ashtyn Rothrock had two hits and scored two runs in the championship game, while Webb, Malorie Pershall, Lexington Dobbs, Madison Reed and Madison Jones all had a hit apiece. Reed had two RBIs, while Jada Corbit scored two runs.

Rothrock (10-4) pitched all four innings, winning her third game of the tournament. Ayden Massey got the win in the Greenland game for Lincoln.

Siloam Springs started Summer Vaughan, who had little to no pitching experience, and Vaughan battled through two innings in the championship game. Yazmine Alfaro pitched an inning of relief as the Lady Panthers' coaches decided to rest normal starter Crissa Spry, who had already pitched two games earlier in the day.

"Well for us we don't want to just pitch Crissa over and over and over," said Siloam Springs head coach Scott Wright. "She pitched two games and that was enough for the time being. And we want to make sure we're not completely running her down for next week cause we've got two big conference games. We want to make sure she's fresh for those."

Spry and Morgan Curtis each had three hits to lead the Lady Panthers offensively. Spry scored two runs and had an RBI, while Curtis scored one and drove in one. Hannah Evans, Lexus Allen, Ally Bunch and Kenlie Noel each had a base hit and run scored. Allen also had an RBI.

"Our bats were really good in that game," Wright said. "We fought hard, but I was really proud of those other girls that stepped up to pitch. Lexus (in the Northside game), Yazmine and Summer and then Kenlie going behind the plate. I was really proud of those four for doing something that they're not always doing on varsity team. They were stepping up and really helping us out when we needed it. I was really proud of them."

Lincoln 9, Siloam Springs 8

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Lincoln^261^X^9^7^2

Vaughan, Alfari (3) and Noel. Rothrock and Dobbs. W - Rothrock, 10-4. L - Vaughan, 0-1. Sv - None. HR - None.

Siloam Springs 8, Fort Smith Northside 3

Siloam Springs scored four runs in the first and four more in the second to defeat the Lady Bears in four innings.

Morgan Curtis had a pair of RBI doubles and scored two runs, while Lexus Allen had a double and an RBI triple and scored two runs.

Ally Bunch had a single and an RBI double and scored one run, while Yazmine Alfaro had an RBI hit.

Crissa Spry and Hannah Evans each scored a pair of runs.

Allen (1-0) got the victory, pitching three innings while Alfaro worked the final inning for Siloam Springs.

Lincoln 2, Siloam Springs 1

Siloam Springs committed three errors in the bottom of the fourth inning that aided Lincoln in scoring two runs to take a 2-1 lead.

The Lady Panthers got the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the fifth, but Morgan Curtis popped out to third base to end the game.

Ashtyn Rothrock got the victory for Lincoln, while Spry took the loss for Siloam Springs in a pitcher's duel.

Siloam Springs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Hannah Evans singled, Lexus Allen walked and Ally Bunch was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Evans scored on a wild pitch.

The score remained 1-0 until the fourth.

Lexington Dobbs doubled to open the inning and later scored on an error on a Tristan Cunningham at-bat. Cunningham scored on another error for a 2-1 lead.

Siloam Springs 8, Gentry 2

Morgan Curtis slammed a three-run home run and Yazmine Alfaro hit an inside-the-park home run as the Lady Panthers defeated Gentry in their opening round game.

Lexus Allen had two hits and two RBIs, while Curtis had three hits and scored three runs. The home run was her fifth of the season.

Spry picked up the win in the pitcher's circle.