There's a different atmosphere around the Siloam Springs softball team and it was evident in the Lady Panthers' home opener Tuesday afternoon at La-Z-Boy Park.
Siloam Springs scored three runs in the first inning and tacked on single runs in the next three frames in a 6-4 victory over Huntsville in a nonconference game.
With the win, the Lady Panthers improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2016 when they started 4-0 and finished with 16 wins. Since that year, however, Siloam Springs had only won seven games combined in the next three years.
Senior third baseman Sydney Smith, who had two hits, an RBI and scored a run on Tuesday against Huntsville, said the Lady Panthers are enjoying their good start.
"Yes we are," Smith said. "Getting better, having fun, working together. I guess over the years of practice we've kind of learned to work together. Our coaches have shown us we can actually do it if we work hard. We're all in it together for the same reason."
Smith was in the middle of the Lady Panthers' three-run first inning to go up 3-0.
Kennedy Wilkie led off with a double and -- after Hilarie Buffington's bunt single -- eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.
Buffington stole second base and scored on Ericka Galloway's single to right, and Smith drove in Galloway with a single.
Siloam Springs made it 4-0 in the bottom of the second after Erica Cedillo singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Huntsville error.
The Lady Panthers went up 5-0 in the third when Smith singled and scored after back-to-back Huntsville errors.
Huntsville got a pair of runs back in the fourth to pull within 5-2, but the Lady Panthers answered with another score.
Wilkie doubled to right-center field and scored on Buffington's bloop hit to right for a 6-2 lead.
The score remained 6-2 until the top of the seventh when Huntsville pulled within 6-4 on a two-run single by Katlynn Campbell.
But Wilkie finished out her complete game in the circle by striking out Tara Vanderpool with the tying run on base to preserve the Siloam Springs win.
"We're really excited how our season has started," said first-year Lady Panthers coach Emily Grace Ruggeri. "We've said from the get-go that we just want to compete. If we make the small plays and we do the little things right, then good things are going to happen. That happened for us tonight down the stretch."
Wilkie (2-0) finished with five strikeouts and gave up seven hits. She also had two doubles and scored two runs.
Buffington had three hits and scored a run, while Galloway joined Smith with two hits, an RBI and scored a run. Cedillo had a base hit and scored a run.
Cora Copeland had three hits and scored two runs for Huntsville, while Lauren Rogers had three hits and scored a run.
"We want to keep getting better every single game," Ruggeri said. "That's one of our goals. Every game we want to learn something and learn something about ourselves as a team and keep getting better to where, hopefully, come April and May we're firing on all cylinders."
Up next
The Lady Panthers were scheduled to play in the Clarksville Tournament on Friday and Saturday, but tournament -- and all of this week's games -- were canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus. All athletic events have been canceled through at least March 30 according to the Arkansas Activities Association. At that time, the rest of the spring schedules will be evaluated, the organization said.
Sports on 03/15/2020