By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ softball team remained perfect in 5A-Central Conference play with a pair of dominant league wins in Monday’s doubleheader against Little Rock McClellan at J.A. Fair.
In the first game, the Lady Bears shut out the Lady Lions on their way to a 16-0 mercy-rule win, and in the second part of the twin bill, Sylvan Hills got another mercy-rule win, this time by the final score of 16-1. Both games only lasted three innings.
Callie Cavender threw all three innings of game one for the Lady Bears. She gave up just one hit in that time and finished with seven strikeouts. Lynlee Broadway got the win in the circle in game two. She threw the first two innings of that game, striking out five while giving up just two hits.
Ace pitcher Michelle Sorensen came in to relieve Broadway in the bottom of the third, and she struck out the side to end that game early as well, because of the 15-run lead after three innings sportsmanship rule.
Sylvan Hills scored eight runs in the first inning of game one to take command of the game early. The Lady Bears added a run in the second before putting the game away in the top of the third with seven more runs. Cara Pozza and Tori Crites led the Lady Bears at the plate in game one. They each had two hits.
In game two, the Lady Bears went scoreless in the first inning, but racked up six of their runs scored in the second inning before ending the doubleheader with their best inning of the day in the third, scoring 10 runs in that inning to set the final score.
Pozza, Broadway and Kathie Hudson led the offensive onslaught in game two. They each had two hits.
The Lady Bears are once again in good position to finish the regular season undefeated in conference play and head coach Mark Anderson said he’s seen steady improvement from his team as the season has progressed, but added that there’s still work to be done before the playoffs get underway in May.
“We’ve seen some improvement,” said Anderson. “We’ve had to make a few adjustments defensively to try to make us better as a team, and the kids have done a good job of making those adjustments. We still have a few things we need to work on and get better at.
“We’re definitely not all the way where we want to be at, but we’re working on fixing those things every day.”
The Lady Bears, 13-6 overall, 8-0 in conference play, will play another conference doubleheader tomorrow at Pulaski Academy.
