This past spring would have been my 11th season covering Siloam Springs softball.
I did get to see one game, on March 10, when the Lady Panthers beat Huntsville 6-4 at La-Z-Boy Park in their home opener. It was a fun afternoon at the ballpark.
It was not only the Lady Panthers' first home game, but it was the first look at the new coaching staff of head coach Emily Grace Ruggeri and assistant Haylee Hall. There was a pep and excitement and energy around the softball program that's not been seen in several years.
For that, I give credit to Ruggeri, Hall and the Lady Panthers themselves for buying in to the program.
Unfortunately, that win against Huntsville was the last game the Lady Panthers played all season, finishing the year 2-0, including a 14-4 win at Greenland in the opening game of the season.
Covid-19 wiped out all spring sports, but it would have been fun to see what this year's softball team would have accomplished.
Covering Siloam Springs softball has been a roller coaster ride over the years with several fun moments, but there hasn't been any lasting success. What we have seen, however, are periods of tremendous growth and improvement for periods of time. And remember, improvement doesn't necessarily translate into wins and losses.
Only once -- in the spring of 2016 -- has the team had a winning season and qualified for the state playoffs since 2010. The team made the playoffs in 2013 and 2014 as automatic qualifiers.
There have been some fun moments along the way: Walk-off wins, beating Class 7A schools like Rogers and Springdale, lots and lots of home runs, lots of singing and cheering from the dugout and some great individual moments.
I've been fortunate enough to chronicle some of these moments and put them in our newspaper.
2016 season a memorable one
Ironically, the night I really believed the 2016 softball season could be a fun ride I was actually at Panther Stadium at SSHS watching soccer.
The softball team was in Fayetteville that night and I was receiving updates from excited parents through text messages and on Twitter.
Siloam Springs belted seven home runs that night in a 15-14 nonconference win over Fayetteville at Lady'Dawg Yard.
Crissa Spry and Morgan Curtis each hit two home runs that night, while Hannah Evans, Kenlie Noel and Lexus Allen all hit home runs as well.
It was one of many nights where the 2016 team outslugged its competition.
A few nights later, the Lady Panthers clubbed Mountain Home 13-6, including a six-RBI night from Hannah Evans, in front of the home fans at La-Z-Boy Park.
They knocked off Conway 4-1 in game one of a doubleheader later in the year and also beat Russellville 9-7 and Alma 5-3 in conference play, which were crucial to getting the team to the playoffs.
The biggest win of that season, though, came on April 5 when the Lady Panthers stunned defending 6A state champion Greenwood 3-2 on the Lady Bulldogs' home field.
Crissa Spry outdueled Greenwood's Victoria Taylor for the win in the circle, then Hannah Evans had an unassisted double play to end the game with the tying run on third base.
It was a milestone win for the softball program in a milestone year.
The Lady Panthers finished with a record of 16-11 in head coach Scott Wright's third season.
The team had the best lineup of any Siloam Springs team that I have covered, and one that I liked to refer to as "Mash City."
The Lady Panthers finished the season with 20 home runs as a team, including six each from Curtis and Spry, five from Evans, and one each from Noel, Allen and Yazmine Alfaro.
As a photographer, you really had to be on the lookout when kids like Curtis, Evans and Spry came up to bat. A line drive off their bat could wipe out anyone who wasn't paying attention, like a sportswriter along the third base line chatting with folks in the dugout.
I fondly remember Curtis wearing yellow work gloves as batting gloves and doing a fun story on that. She was a threat to hit a home run nearly every time up.
So was Evans, who was a solid third baseman and a terrific hitter as well.
Spry pitched a lot of games for SSHS over the years, winning 16 games in 2016. She could hit too.
Coupled around those three were lots of good players, including Kenlie Noel, Ally Bunch, Lexus Allen, Yazmine Alfaro.
Unfortunately, the 2016 Lady Panthers lost in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs to Lake Hamilton, 4-1, in a game where their bats suddenly went quiet.
Standout players
Siloam Springs has had some ballplayers over the years that have stood out to me, not just for how they played on the field, but things they did off it.
On those early teams I covered, I think about players like Maci Lewis, who was a terrific all-around player that could do it all, hit, pitch, field. Or a Saralyn Pittman, Ashley Lasater, Britney Tennison, Olivia Moore, Rachel Huffman, all kids that worked hard under Coach Justin Blanchard, who managed the team through the 2013 season.
I think about a kid like Brittany Holmes, who Blanchard called a "cornerstone" player, who wasn't the most talented but showed up every day ready to work and is now coaching in the Lincoln School District.
I think about Allison Long, who hit six home runs in the 2011 season, or the emergence of stars Haley Hunt and Abi Sislo in that same year.
Hunt, in particular, showed tremendous power with 10 home runs as a sophomore and eight more as a junior, while pitching a lot for the Lady Panthers too.
Haley Littlejohn played a number of different roles for the Lady Panthers during that time as well.
Then there were fun kids to be around like Heidi Fernandez, who always had a smile on her face and improved tremendously over the years. Or Kenlie Noel, who was one of the few four-sport standouts, participating in volleyball, basketball, softball and cheerleading.
And then I think about players on the most recent teams, kids like Ericka Galloway, Sydney Smith, Hilarie Buffington, Micah Curry, Jessie Robinson, Aislyn Burchette and many others that stuck with it as the Lady Panthers went through tough times, winning just six games total from 2017 to 2019.
Siloam Springs softball
Year -- Record (W-L)
2010 -- 2-25
2011 -- 8-18
2012 -- 9-18
2013 -- 6-16
2014 -- 8-22
2015 -- 5-20
2016 -- 16-11
2017 -- 3-19
2018 -- 1-18
2019 -- 2-19
2020 -- 2-0
-- Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-Leader. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Sports on 06/03/2020