By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Beebe Lady Badgers’ softball team finished 5A East Conference play with a bang, beating Blytheville 15-0 in both games of a doubleheader Tuesday at Beebe.
Freshman standout pitcher Ellie Reaves threw a perfect game in the first part of the twin bill as the Lady Badgers put away the Lady Chickasaws in four innings. Reaves struck out nine batters in game one.
Reaves stayed on the mound for the second game, but showed she was human as she gave up one hit in a complete game shutout performance. The one hit Blytheville managed against Reaves was her one blemish of the day. Reaves struck out four and walked no one, leading the Lady Badgers to another 15-0 win, this time ending the game in three innings.
“Blytheville, bless them, they just don’t have a lot,” said Beebe coach Eric Chambers. “We just have to take care of business when you play who you have to play.”
In game one, it took Beebe a couple of innings to get things going at the plate. The Lady Badgers led comfortably after two innings, but put the game out of reach in the third and fourth innings to quickly total 15 runs for the mercy rule win.
Beebe picked up right where it left off at the plate in the second game, scoring four runs in the first inning. Junior Annlee Glass started the second inning with a double. Center fielder Makenzie Bingham followed with a single that allowed Glass to score from second.
Bingham stole second, and senior Sarah White singled as well to drive in Bingham. Megan Davlin then singled to keep the Lady Badgers’ hitting streak going. After White and Davlin advanced to second and third on a passed ball, Lannie Reaves singled in the gap in left field to bring White and Davlin home.
Blytheville finally got out of the second inning, but not until Courtney Shepard tripled, allowing Reaves to score from first to give Beebe a 9-0 lead. After another one-two-three inning in the field, the Lady Badgers got back to work at the plate.
Bingham singled to start the bottom of the third and after stealing second, Brittany Gentry went to first after being hit by a pitch. Davlin then came to the plate and sent Bingham and Gentry home with a two-RBI double.
White followed with a double of her own to bring Davlin across home plate. Beebe added two more runs in the inning, and earned its second 15-0 mercy rule win of the day after Schyler Watson singled to drive in Shepard.
The two conference wins allowed Beebe (21-7, 11-3) to lock up the No. 2 seed going into the state tournament.
Beebe will play at Jacksonville on Monday. The Lady Badgers begin their run at the state title Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Wynne.
They will face Monticello, the No. 3 seed from the 5A Southeast.
