by Rusty Ellis
BAXTER – The Upperman Lady Bees scored early and often in their 15-0 Senior Night win over Van Buren on Monday night, as they wrapped up their final home game of the regular season in winning fashion.
“Just the ability to come in and put your head down and take care of the business at hand,” said UHS head coach Dustin Williams. “We’ve never played Van Buren and they were gracious enough to come down here for our Senior Night game, but we didn’t let those festivities overshadow the ballgame.”
After a Reece Kimmel RBI single and an error scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the first, the Lady Bees plated five more runs in the second, courtesy of three more errors and Izzy Veigel two-run single to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
Six more runs came around in the third, highlighted by a Kimmel two-run home run and RBI hits from Jaides Parrish and Kloee Garrett, before the final two runs came across in the fourth inning to end the ballgame with a 15-0 Upperman victory.
It’s the final regular season home game for the group of Veigel, Parrish, Garrett, Kirra Hancock, Addy Harris and Macie Robbins, and it’s a group that Williams says has helped build a strong cultural foundation for the Lady Bees.
“Everybody got to say something before the game and say their favorite memories of being here, and what I appreciated was that everyone said there was no drama,” Williams said. “We preach that, it’s a cultural thing. It’s something that we’ve worked really hard to build. I can’t say enough about that group.”
With the district tournament looming, which Upperman will host, Williams says there’s a lot to like about the way his team is playing going into the most important time of the year.
“We’ve had hit and miss spots here and there, but we’ve really played well down the stretch,” Williams said. “I think we’re playing our best ball of the year, but I think we’re going to be playing even better ball next week than we are right now. That’s the goal every year, play your best softball in May.”
Upperman will be back in action on Tuesday when they head to Livingston to take on the Lady Wildcats in their district finale.
