Van Buren falls in opener of annual home tourney but rebounds with win

It was not the position the Van Buren Lady Pointers wanted to be in, especially after having not played many games of late. But the Lady Pointers ended up falling in their first game of their 15th annual River City Rumble tournament. Morrilton pitcher Makeena Keeton threw a six-hit shutout over six innings as the Lady Devil Dogs posted a 4-0 win against Van Buren in bracket play at the Field of Dreams. “That’s our second game in 15 days and you can tell,” Van Buren coach Andy Williams said. ?(Morrilton) didn’t get the rain we got; they got to play Monday and they got to play Tuesday and played like 15 games before that and we only played like 10, so we’ve just got to start getting back into rhythm.” Van Buren (6-4) did bounce back later on Friday with a 9-5 win against Mena. In the game against Morrilton, the Lady Devil Dogs scored all of their runs in the first two innings, scoring twice in each inning. A pair of Van Buren errors also led to three of those runs. “We’re out of spring break and hopefully, we’re out of the rain,” Williams said. “That’s all that it was, we were just off timing at the plate and they made plays on a couple of our miscues on defense and they got four runs.” Van Buren did have its chances, though. In the top of the second, Alexcia Trejo hit a one-out double and Hannah Brewer followed with a single. But Keeton retired the next two batters to escape further trouble. The Lady Pointers also had sixth-inning singles from Cali Jones and Natalie Scherrey, but with two outs, Whitney Ellis hit a line drive which was caught by Morrilton left fielder Gracie Ferrell for the final out. Ferrell gave Morrilton its initial run with an RBI double in the first inning. The Lady Devil Dogs scored their next two runs on errors, while their last run came in on a second-inning sacrifice fly from Loren Reynolds. Keeton walked one and struck out three in her six innings of work. Van Buren pitcher Richelle Stacy allowed one earned run on two hits over five innings, striking out five. In the win against Mena, Van Buren scored five runs in the third to break a scoreless game. The Lady Pointers also scored twice in the fourth and fifth innings. Ellis went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Janelle Parga drove in two runs as well. Kirstyn McMillian was the winning pitcher. She gave up five runs, two earned, over five innings while issuing two walks and striking out six. “We’ve got three or four more games this weekend and then get back into it Tuesday and Thursday and another tournament next weekend, so we’ll start getting consecutive at-bats and consistent offense and consistent defensively and everything will start carrying on the rest of the season,” Williams said.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN FALLS IN OPENER OF ANNUAL HOME TOURNEY BUT REBOUNDS WITH WIN

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 3/31/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell