Greenwood holds off Fayetteville, 5-3

Greenwood coach Trey Holloway loved the way Jace Presley kept his composure under pressure Thursday evening against Fayetteville and it helped the Bulldogs walk away with a solid nonconference road win. Fayetteville struck for three runs in the sixth inning, but Presley worked out of further trouble and Greenwood went on to claim the 5-3 victory over the 6A-West Conference co-leaders. "What Jace does is he competes," Holloway said. "You'll notice when he got behind 2-0, he's still attacking the zone. He's not going to give in. When his back's against the wall, he's going to find a way to get the next out." That's exactly what the 6-foot-4 junior did. After giving up Josh Langham's two-run home run to pull Fayetteville within 5-3, Luke Davenport lined a double over the head of the center fielder. But Presley got Sam Turner to ground out to end the inning. Peyton Holt then came on in the seventh to retire the side in the seventh in order and notch the save. Presley, who catches in conference games, picked up the win, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings of work. He struck out four and walked one. He also drove in a run for Greenwood. That extended Greenwood's winning streak to 10 games, but Holloway said his team has work ahead of them next week. The Bulldogs (20-7) will likely need to win at least one of the two games against Greenbrier to ensure they claim a spot in the state tournament. Greenwood is the defending Class 6A state champion, but it is now competing in 5A. But Greenwood got off to an early lead, taking advantage of a couple of Fayetteville miscues to grab a 4-0 lead after three innings. The Bulldogs put together three hits in the second inning and took the lead on sophomore Reed Carroll's RBI-single. A second run scored when the Fayetteville left fielder mishandled the ball for a 2-0 Greenwood lead. Greenwood added two more in the third as Holt led off with a single and scored on an error. The Bulldogs added another one a wild pitch. Fayetteville (16-10) finally fought back aided by a Greenwood error in the sixth. Harrison Wales led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch by Presley. After a throwing error by the catcher extended the inning, Langham crushed a two-run pinch-hit homer to get Fayetteville within 5-3. Fayetteville coach Scott Gallagher said the difference in the game was simple. "We gave them a couple of extra outs and they took advantage of it," Gallagher said. "We took advantage of their mistake in that inning and they took advantage of our mistakes and really other than that it was a pretty close game. "We didn't hit it well early. But their kid did a good job. He threw a lot of strikes and were maybe a little overly aggressive at times." Fayetteville will finish 6A-West Conference play with two games next week against Springdale Har-Ber. The Purple Bulldogs will face the Wildcats at Arvest Ballpark on Monday, then host Har-Ber on Tuesday. Greenwood 5, Fayetteville 3 Greenwood^022^010^0^--^5^8^1 Fayetteville^00^003^0^--^3^5^3 Presley, Holt (7) and Baker; Magre, Adams (5), Shirey (7) and Gunnell. W-Presley. L-Magre. HRs-Langham, Fayetteville.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
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GREENWOOD HOLDS OFF FAYETTEVILLE, 5-3

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 4/26/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville High School Athletics