Class 6A Arkansas softball state championship: Macy Hoskins' three-run shot secures Bryant's first state title since 2012

Bryant scored five runs in the seventh inning

By Kyle Sutherland | Photos by Jimmy Jones 

Bryant came into Thursday's 6A state championship game with 45 home runs as a team, six of those belonging to senior outfielder Macy Hoskins. 

Tied 5-5 with two outs at the top of the seventh, Hoskins stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners. With a full count and the season on the line, she blasted her seventh homer of the year over the left field wall.

After hitting the leadoff batter in the bottom of the inning, Kadence Armstrong bounced back and retired the final three as Bryant defeated 6A-Central foe Cabot 8-5 to win thee program's first state title since 2012.

The Lady Hornets had three arms - Aly White, Emily Miller, and Armstrong - in their arsenal that gave them productive innings throughout the season, but what they did at the plate is now etched in the history books.

"I am pretty sure we blew the Bryant home run record out of the water," Dreher said. "Macy is my 8-hole hitter and (Emma) Bonvillain, who also came up big, is my 9-hole. These girls just hit the ball. One through nine, we needed everybody."

Following a scoreless sixth inning, Cabot led 5-3 going into the seventh. Before taking the field the Lady Hornets came together on their own without a single word spoken from Dreher.

"Before that last inning, they told me that they did not want me in the huddle," Dreher said. "I have no idea what they said, but apparently it was the right recipe."

Bryant struck first at the top of the second when Hoskins reached first on a fielder's choice that scored Kloie Lovell. Cabot responded in the bottom of the inning when Graci Hock crossed the plate via a Jarah Potter RBI-single.

Cabot ace Akayla Barnard quickly retired the side at the top of the third, then crushed a one-out solo shot for the go-ahead run as the Lady Panthers led 2-1 after three.

Emma Bonvillain's two-out double at the top of the fourth brought Leah Hicks home for the tying run. The Lady Hornets regained the lead on a RBI-single by Abby Gentry that scored Specs Easterwood for the 3-2 lead.

Cabot's three-run fifth, along with Barnard setting down Bryant in order had the Lady Panthers feeling confident as they went into the final inning three outs away from finishing it.

In a game that featured 22 hits, 11 a piece, Bryant notched theirs when it mattered most.

"It was a domino effect in that seventh inning," Cabot head coach Chris Cope said. "Bryant has hit the ball all year, they had 11 or 12 hits against us each game and we have against them. They just scored the last runs and we did not."

Dreher's day was extra special. Not only did she win her first state championship as a head coach, but she got to do it on the field she thrived on as a collegiate player. Dreher was Central Arkansas' first signee for the softball program in 1996 and was a 2016 inductee to the UCA Hall of Fame.

"It means way more than you could imagine," Dreher said. "This is where I played, and I wanted it to come full circle."

Hoskins earned Most Valuable Player honors finishing with the three-run dinger, as well as four runs batted in.

White, Payton Stueart, Lovell, and Hicks all recorded multiple hits for the Lady Panthers.

For Cabot, Emily Whitman, Hock, Emma Scales, and Alyssa Duncan finished with two hits each.

After two tough losses to Cabot in conference play, Bryant got its redemption. They also accomplished the feat of knocking off two nationally ranked squads - cross county rival Benton in March and previous two-time defending 6A champion Bentonville in last week's semifinals.

"The fight in these kids, I have never had a team like this ever," Dreher said. "I knew they were not going to give up and that they would go out and give 100%. Not one of them thought we were going to lose this game."

Bryant is accustomed to winning championships, most notably in football as the current five-time defending 7A champion. The support from the hometown crowd made its presence felt.

"They were chanting Macy's name before she hit that home run," Dreher said. "They believe in us, they talk to us every day about our games and what happens.

"The support in Bryant is something you just can not get much other places."