It hasn’t been an easy start to 6A-Central play for Southside coach Cassy Story and her Mavericks.

The Mavs dropped their fourth straight conference game to begin this season, with three of those defeats at home, the latest an 11-4 decision to Bryant on Friday at Evans Boys and Girls Club.

Southside’s four losses in conference play were against teams (Bryant, Conway, Cabot and North Little Rock) that have combined to win at least 40 ballgames this season.

“We’ve played some great teams, but we’ve just got to execute and we’ve got to clean some things up,” Story said. “The good thing is it’s still early, so we’ve got time; we’re going to see everybody again and hopefully, we’ll learn from our mistakes and be back ready to go next time.”

Bryant (13-3, 4-0) scored single runs in each of the first two innings to take a quick 2-0 lead.

It remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when Southside (10-7, 0-4) got to within a run as Madi Conklin led off the inning with a solo home run to left center.

But the Lady Hornets answered right back in the fifth as Aly Bowers led things off with a solo blast of her own. Bryant then added five more runs that inning for an 8-1 lead, and the Lady Hornets also built an 11-2 advantage in the sixth.

“Again, we’ve just got to make sure we’re not compounding errors and mistakes and we’ll be out Monday ready to work on it,” Story said.


Story, though, did admire the fact that the Mavs didn’t give up, as they scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh.


“They did a good job fighting back,” she said. “We just want to start back from the very beginning and then keep it going, but as far as their fight, they did a good job and I was proud of them for that.”

Bowers, batting eighth in Bryant’s order, was one of five Lady Hornets with two-hit games as she was 2-for-3 with her home run along with two RBIs. Maddie Thompson, Meagan Chism, Regan Dillon and Joely Calhoun also had two-hit games for the Lady Hornets.

Gianni Hulett pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Lady Hornets, allowing two earned runs on nine hits. Hulett also struck out eight.

Conklin went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs for Southside. Also for the Mavs, Hannah Hogue, Mackenzie Farrar and Meliah Hunter each went 2-for-4, with Hunter picking up an RBI.

The Mavs will continue to seek their first 6A-Central win when they travel on Tuesday to face Mount St. Mary. Southside returns home next Friday to take on Little Rock Central.
