Regional softball

Macie Welch of Baptist Prep pitches during the Eagles’ 7-0 victory over Dover on Friday in the Class 3A-Region 3 softball semifinals at Burns Park Softball Complex in North Little Rock.

Baptist Prep went long to make short work of Dover on Friday afternoon.

The Eagles blasted three home runs, including a towering shot from sophomore Alivia Slayton, to beat the Pirates 7-0 in the semifinals of the 3A-Region 3 softball tournament at Burns Park.

Senior Macie Welch and junior Maci Henderson also hit home runs for Baptist Prep (24-6), which banged out 10 hits to beat its conference counterparts for the second time this season. The victory was also the Eagles’ 13th in their past 14 games.

“These kids, I can’t say enough about them,” said Baptist Prep Coach Tim Yelvington, whose team will play Atkins today in the title game at 2:30 p.m. “They’re just a great group that loves each other. I mean, they’re not best friends all the time, but on the field, they play for each other and will always have each other’s back. This year is the first year that I’ve seen them not care about their own personal stats.

“Now they still compete with each other, don’t get me wrong. But they just want to win.”

Baptist Prep has done a lot of winning this year, especially against teams from its classification. The Eagles have beaten everyone they’ve faced in Class 3A while allowing just two runs against teams from their league. Dover (19-9) was the only 3A-5 team to score against Baptist Prep, which came during a 6-2 loss March 30.

The Pirates didn’t get many chances to score, putting just two runners in scoring position against Welch.

The senior left-hander, who’s signed with the University of Memphis, hit the first batter she saw in the opening inning but didn’t yield much else. She struck out 5 in 5 innings before handing the ball to junior Mackenzie Childers, who allowed 1 hit while striking out 6.

“Pitching has been our strength all year,” Yelvington said. “We’ve got several who can go out there and get the job done. But I really think our hitting has been just as good. Of course, I can’t take credit for that, though, because they really put the work in.”

Slayton gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead in the first with a three-run home run over the right-field fence. Welch added a solo shot in the third, and Henderson delivered a two-run home run to straightaway center in the fifth. Sophomore Katie Midkiff, who finished with three hits for Baptist Prep, had an RBI double moments before Henderson’s blast.

Dover’s lone hit was a single from senior pitcher Jacqueline Fields, who also registered 10 strikeouts and two walks.

3A-REGION 3 BASEBALL LAMAR 6, PALESTINE-WHEATLEY 4

A pair of bases-loaded walks in the top of the seventh resulted in the goahead runs for Lamar (26-8), which got out of a huge jam two innings earlier to advance to the regional final.

The Warriors had just three hits but were helped out by a number of fielding mistakes by Palestine-Wheatley (15-7). Lamar scored its first four runs over the first and second innings — two of them resulting from errors and another off of a wild pitch. Junior Jacob Key drove in the other run with a double.

The Patriots stormed back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth and had a chance to take control after loading the bases with no outs in the fifth. The Warriors got out of trouble when senior reliever Brady James induced a ground out and force out before getting Palestine-Wheatley junior Conner Teal to fly out to end the inning.

The loss spoiled a stout pitching performance from Patriots pitcher Jackson Wilson. The 6-2 senior gave up 3 hits, walked 4 and struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings. He exited after reaching his pitchcount limit in the seventh just prior to the Warriors’ rally.

Lamar will get another crack at 3A-5 Conference champion Baptist Prep (158), which beat the Warriors in two earlier meetings, in today’s championship game at 2:30 p.m. The Eagles scored 12 unanswered runs after trailing 8-6 in the fifth to pull away for an 18-8 victory in Friday’s other semifinal.