CENTERTON --Bentonville West lost a pair of starters to injuries during Thursday's 6A-West Conference softball game against rival Bentonville High.

But perseverance paid off for the Lady Wolverines as they took advantage of a Lady Tiger error to rally for the 5-3 victory and claim the regular-season conference title.

West (22-3, 13-1 6A-West) helped Bentonville claim a 3-2 advantage thanks to a two-out error in the third inning, but the Lady Tigers returned the favor fifth and it turned out to be the difference in the game.

Sydney Sneed led off the big fifth with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and later scored when Bentonville third baseman McKenzie Vaughn's throw went wide of first with two outs to tie the game at 3.

After Hallie Wacaser was intentionally walked to load the bases, Honesty Holt came through with her second two-run single of the day for a 5-3 West lead it would not relinquish.

Bentonville West coach Anthony Cantrell couldn't have been prouder of his team. The Lady Wolverines claimed the conference title, swept their crosstown rivals and did it despite having starting catcher Ryen Rassi and second baseman Alyssa Cordell go down with injuries in the first three innings.

"That's a heavyweight fight right there," Cantrell said. "They are the three-time defending 7A state champs and until somebody beats them they still are. We battled through some adversity tonight and came out on top.

"Honesty had a great night. That's the kind of kid she is. She's an all-state kid that's been moved around a little bit, who's taken advantage of what she's supposed to do. We're very proud. It's a proud moment for our program."

Rassi and pitcher Emma Wood collided going after a bunt in the third inning, while Cordell appeared to twist her knee while going after a pop-up near the right-field line in the top of the first inning.

Wood settled down to pitch well after giving up hits to the first three batters of the game. She allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits over seven innings of work. Wood struck out two and walked one.

lan Jenna Wildeman tripled and scored twice for the Lady Tigers, while

Lady Tigers coach Kent Early credited West for taking advantage of his team's mistake.

"We had a chance to get out of an inning and we didn't," Early said. "They put themselves in position to score on that error."

Bentonville (17-7, 11-2) has work left to do though. The Lady Tigers have a make-up game against Rogers High at Veterans Park scheduled for today. The winner of that game earns the No. 2 seed, while the loser will be the third seed from the conference.

"It's a sign of maturity if our kids are going to turn around and battle back," Early said. "And they have all year long. So barring weather, we're gonna be back and ready to play."


