PREP Softball: Cabot rallies, takes down Bryant

The Lady Panthers stormed back from a five-run deficit to knock off Bryant 9-8 at Lady Hornet Field. Four players drove in at least two runs each for Cabot, which had its 18-game winning streak snapped Monday in a 4-2 home loss to reigning Class 5A champion Benton. But the Lady Panthers were able to bounce back on the road in a battle between the top two teams in the 6A-Central Conference. The victory, however, was far from easy. Cabot (19-1, 10-0), which won the first meeting between the two earlier this month, trailed 6-1 in the second inning before its offense got going. The Lady Panthers blasted three of their four home runs during a big third inning to get back in it. "It was 6-4 the first time we played them, but both teams really hit the ball well in this one," Cabot Coach Chris Cope said. "We could've gotten down on ourselves when [Bryant] got up 6-1, but we responded and got back into it. We eventually got a lead, and that helped us towards the end." Cope admitted that he got a little worried after the Lady Panthers fell into that hole, especially with their ace A'Kayla Barnard on the mound. Bryant (17-7, 8-2) hit two of its three home runs during a blistering second inning. Cabot had grabbed a 1-0 lead on a run-scoring single from Jarah Potter at the top of that frame until the Lady Hornets cashed in on a crucial mistake to jumpstart its push. Macy Hoskins and Leah Hicks scored on a throwing error to initially put Bryant ahead. Aly White and Payton Stueart would later smack back-to-back home runs -- with White connecting on a three-run shot – to increase its margin. The Lady Panthers answered with five runs in the top of the third inning, beginning with a two-run home run from Emily Titus. Emma Scales also belted a two-run home run while Allee Autry followed up with a solo homer that tied it at 6-6. "They responded in a big way," Cope said of his team. "When they did that, it was on from there. We got that first home run, and then it was kind of like a domino effect. Once one person got on, then we got another one on. "We kind of kept going after that." Bryant did regain the lead in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from Hoskins, but a home run from Barnard ignited a three-run fifth inning that put the Lady Panthers up for good. The Lady Hornets did put another score into Cabot in the seventh. White opened in the inning with her second home run of the game to get her team within a run. Bryant later had runners on second and third with two outs, but Barnard managed to strike out Hoskins to end the game. "That's a big win for us," Cope said. "We've split with them the last three years, shared the conference and things like that. And there's still a possibility that that can happen again because we've still got two more games. "But this one helps going into the state tournament because both of us are vying for that No. 1 seed. This one kind of gives us a leg up now." Barnard, Autry, Potter and Graci Hock all had two hits each for Cabot, which holds a two-game lead over the Lady Hornets for the top spot in the league. White and Stueart finished with three hits each for Bryant.

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Cabot High School Athletics

PREP SOFTBALL: CABOT RALLIES, TAKES DOWN BRYANT

ERICK TAYLOR

Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 4/29/2023