In a big Saline County battle between two of the top teams in the state, the Bryant Lady Hornets would top the Bauxite Lady Miners 4-1 Thursday at Lady Hornets Field on Thursday in nonconference play. Bryant, which was ranked No. 3 in the state by maxpreps.com, handed Bauxite, ranked No. 2, its first loss of the season.
“I think they’re seeing how good they are,” Bryant Coach Lisa Dreher said of beating the Lady Miners. “We knew we had a lot of talent, but at the same time you have to execute in games. They’ve worked extremely hard, some of them seven days a week. It’s good for that work to finally be paying off. We have to keep going all the way through May.”
One inning would be the downfall for Bauxite (22-1) as Bryant junior Sarah Evans would hit Bauxite junior Bailey Buffington’s fourth pitch of the bottom of the second inning over the centerfield fence for the early 1-0 lead. Buffington walked senior Macey Jaramillo the next batter, but came back to get a strikeout before junior Madison Lyles’ sacrifice bunt moved Jaramillo to second for the second out.