Lady Dogs face Bryant for a trip to title game
Posted on Monday, May 12, 2008
RUSSELLVILLE - When Jason Shirey was revitalizing the Fayetteville softball program as its head coach four years ago, his path to success and sorrow seemed to always go through Bryant.
First there were backto-back losses in his first two years in the state tournament semifinals - one of which came at the hands of Bryant in 2005. Then, in 2006, the Lady Bulldogs won their first state championship at Lady'Back Yard against the Lady Hornets.
Today, Bryant again stands in the way at the Class 7 A state tournament semifinals. Fayetteville advanced to the final four field with a 3-0 win over Cabot in the second round Saturday, and Bryant outlasted Van Buren, 3-2, in 10 innings in the late game.
At stake for the Lady Bulldogs today is a shot at a third consecutive state championship, a state record. Struggles against Cabot Saturday may have provided a detriment to that prediction, however.
Fayetteville (28-3 ) could never find a rhythm at the plate offensively Saturday, and Cabot held pitcher Amanda Summerford under her strikeout average (11 ) with just three. If not for a couple of Cabot errors, the Lady Purple Dogs may have still won, but probably with just a 1-0 decision, Shirey said.
The performance Saturday, contends Cabot head coach Becky Steward, may have built a blueprint on how to beat the defending state champions.
Simply put, be aggressive against Summerford.
"[Summerford's ] good. She's gotten better, but if you're patient, she's just like any other pitcher - you can hit her," said Steward, whose team finished with 2 hits against Summerford Saturday. "You have to make Amanda throw. If you can make her lay off that rise ball that she's got going on, she's hittable."
Easier said than done for a pitcher that has more strikeouts (243 ) than innings pitched (140 ) this season.
"We know what other teams are going to try to do and what we're going to try to do," Shirey said. "The plan sounds good in terms of that, and they may very well do it and execute it, but I know everybody has tried different approaches."
And it usually doesn't work against the junior ace, who now stands with a record of 21-2 this season. As for Bryant, a team Shirey is all too familiar with, their ace is comparable to Cabot's hurler who struck out 8 batters and allowed 5 hits Saturday, Shirey said.
Bryant's ace, Christen Kirchner, may not be a powerful thrower, but she can spot the ball, Shirey said. The senior is also familiar with Fayetteville. As an outfielder in 2006, she was a starter in Bryant's 4-0 loss to Fayetteville in the state championship.
"She swings a good stick," Shirey said. "She won't be intimidated by the situation."
Shirey said he expects his team to be more offensively conscious today in hopes to put more pressure on Bryant in the early innings. The coach called Saturday's five-hit game against Cabot "rusty"and credited some of the struggles to Fayetteville's eight-day stretch without a game.
"We need to get back to doing what we were doing with our bats," Shirey said. "We're preparing for another good team. We drill, we work on those things. I suspect we'll swing the bats a little better Monday because we've gotten out and done it before."
One win away from a third straight state championship appearance, can Shirey taste a historical third straight state title ?
"I taste food, but that's about it," Shirey said. "We haven't accomplished anything. It's nice to win [against Cabot ] and the kids know that. It's just the next step. The next game is Monday at 4. That's all I want them to worry about and I think that's all they'll be concerned with."
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