There is a total of 54 softball teams in Arkansas’s 2A division. F-I-F-T-Y…..F-O-U-R. Stretching from the eastern deltas to the western mountains, from the Missouri borders to the Louisiana line, and everywhere in between, every team has the ultimate goal of becoming the Arkansas State Champions. That means that when it comes time for two teams to meet up in Conway Arkansas, 52 teams had their ultimate goal slip away. Not because of a lack of talent or desire, but because they were just out-performed in one single game. Everyone knew that when the Mansfield Lady Tigers and the Riverside Lady Rebels met on Friday, May 19th that there could only be one team to walk away with all of their goals intact and one team who would be one game shy.

The Riverside Lady Rebels struck first from the batter’s box and made their way slowly but surely to third base to kick things off. That set up an early edge-of-the-seat standoff between the Lady Rebels and Mansfield pitcher, Alyson Edwards. The Lady Tigers didn’t flinch as Alyson Edwards lined Riverside up and cut them down from there. The game soon became a pitching battle as Edwards and Lady Rebels pitcher Klaire Womack began to warm up. Mansfield was able to hit the ball on a few occasions and Skylynn Harris made it to first base, but that’s as far as Mansfield would get before Riverside rolled up three outs.

Mansfield’s pitching was smoking hot through the first five innings, but their bats were uncharacteristically ice old as the high-scoring Lady Tigers still stood with a goose egg on the scoreboard. The pitching duel was definitely one for the ages with both Mansfield’s Alyson Edwards and the Lady Rebels pitcher setting batters up and then putting them down with ease. Riverside threatened a run again as the Lady Rebels got a hit to first base. The runner made a second base steal as Riverside bunted a sacrifice to send their base runner to third. With two outs and nothing to lose, the Lady Rebels connected on a line drive down the middle to send a Riverside runner over home plate for the first score of the game in the top of the sixth inning.

Mansfield finally got a solid burst of heat from Kynslee Ward as she woke up the Lady Tiger faithful with a rocket shot to center field. The ball split the outfielders allowing Ward to roll her way to second base. With the Lady Tigers finally in scoring position, they were eager to meet Ward at home plate. Unfortunately, Riverside’s pitching was just too smooth as the Lady Rebels closed out the inning leaving Ward on base. With the game headed to the seventh and final inning, fans on both sides of the field knew that this was anyone’s game. Alyson Edwards kept Riverside at bay in the top of the inning setting up an all-or-nothing scenario for Mansfield’s batters at the bottom of the seventh. Riverside’s pitcher maintained ice in her veins though and struck the Lady Tigers out of their State Championship hopes to end the game with a 1-0 final score.

A win would be something big to talk about and a loss is something one would desire to easily forget. One thing no one in the state will forget though was the mound monsters in this game. A 1-0 score isn’t a highlight reel for a slugfest, but with two absolute aces on the mound, you can’t expect one either. Lady Tigers pitcher Alyson Edwards and Riversides Klarie Womack totaled a combined 34 strikeouts and only allowed a total of five hits in the entire game. Both threw a total of exactly 106 pitches with Womack allowing two hits and Edwards three hits. Although the bats weren’t ringing for the “home team”, one has to admire the skill of both young pitchers to be able to achieve such stats on such a massive stage.

The Lady Tigers may have finished their 2023 campaign one goal short of the ultimate season, but they racked up enough accolades to be considered one of the best softball teams in Mansfield history along the way. Mansfield finished their season with an overall 29-4 record and went all the way to the State Championship game on a two-month winning streak. The Lady Tigers were crowned the 2A-4 Conference Champions, 2A-4 District Champions, 2A West Regional Champions, and finished as the 2A State Runner-Up. So although Mansfield came up one score shy of the ultimate goal, they definitely didn’t walk away empty-handed. The Lady Tigers will lose a stocked senior group in 2024 with graduates Brooklyn Adams, Skylynn Harris, Seven Sanderson, Natalie Allison, Alayna Turner, and Serenity Chick leaving the lineup, but Mansfield will still be loaded with a talented and hungry group of players eager to continue Mansfield Lady Tiger excellence into the future.