Lady Elks earn regional berth
Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008
LINCOLN - Defeating a team five times in the same season may not be the easiest of tasks to accomplish but that's what the Elkins Lady Elks will be attempting to do when it meets Pea Ridge in the finals of the 1-3 A District tournament. The Elks punched their ticket into Monday's 7 p.m. championship game by outlasting West Fork 12-0.
The Lady Elks continued their successful run on Saturday with quality work on the hill, at the plate and in the field.
Amber Caywood struck out 7 of the first eight hitters that she faced and ended with 9 strikeouts in a 1-hit effort while not issuing a single walk. Lakin Burnett with a third inning single that dropped in behind first was the lone Lady Tiger baserunner.
"At one point [Caywood ] came in and said she didn't feel very well," Elkins coach Paula Wheeler said. "Credit goes to them because every time that you see a picture you learn a little more about them."
The charges offensively were lead by second baseman Carly Powers who went 3 for 3. Her triple and pair of singles translated into 5 RBIs on the day in the Lady Elks 10-hit attack.
"We've been working all week on hitting," Wheeler said. "Every time that [Powers ] gets up we always remind her that she's a base-hitter. Even when the bases are loaded she's a base-hitter and I think she did a great job with that today."
Hannah Powers with a double in the fourth and Mandie Keith hit a 2-bagger in the 5-run second to join Carly Powers in the extrabase hit department.
Elkins struck for three in the first, five in the second and fourth in the fourth of the run-shortened game. The Lady Elks (22-2 ) also were perfect in the field committing no errors.
"Anytime you can have no errors it's a great day for your team," she said. "I think the girls do a great job on defense. I think that's one of our attributes and helps us in every game that we play."
West Fork qualified for the regional being played next week earlier in the day with a 15-0 win over Eureka Springs.
Wheeler knows win No. 5 over Pea Ridge this season will be a tough one.
"We're looking for five but it gets harder."
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online