Southside freshman pitcher Cailin Massey didn’t get the chance to close out a win in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday.

In the bottom of the seventh, however, Massey helped her own cause as she delivered a two-out RBI single, scoring Caitlyn Bagby from second base as the Mavericks got a galvanizing 9-8 win against Cabot in 7A-Central action at Evans Boys and Girls Club.

“When I went up there, I was thinking, OK let’s make a comeback from the rest of the game,” Massey said. “Forget about (the top of the seventh), go up there. ... Your team needs you, so we’ve got to pull through, and I just kind of hit how I knew how.

“I just swung and it got in under the gap.”

Massey placed one in the hole on the shortstop side as Bagby — who led off the inning with a walk — came around third and eventually scored the winning run.

“She (Massey) did a great job, for a freshman to come in like that and (come through) in a big situation, she did fantastic, so we’re very proud of her,” Southside coach Cassy Story said.

The win capped a wild comeback for the Mavericks (11-7, 4-4) as they beat a Cabot squad which entered Tuesday one game back of Bryant for first place in the conference. Currently, Southside is in fifth place in the conference.

Southside trailed 7-3 in the top of the sixth. Things seemed to be slipping away for the Mavs, which had shut out Cabot (16-6, 7-2) for the first three innings.

“We had to be positive with our heads because it’s all about the mind right now,” freshman Madi Conklin, who had three hits Tuesday, said. “We told ourselves that we were going to come in and play as hard as we could and that’s exactly what we did; we didn’t give up at all.”

The Mavs’ optimism paid off in the bottom half of the sixth inning, when they scored five runs.

Hannah Hogue’s successful steal of home plate tied the score; then Ella Kohler’s RBI grounder to score Madi Conklin gave Southside an 8-7 lead.


But with two outs in the top of the seventh and a runner in scoring position, Rylie Hamilton battled in her at-bat against Massey. Hamilton fouled off three straight pitches on a 2-2 count before dropping a single into shallow center, scoring Riley Walthall with the tying run.

The Mavs continued to stay positive and were able to bounce back in the bottom of the seventh. Bagby drew a walk to lead off, then went to second on a grounder from Kendall Willis, eventually setting up Massey’s game-winning hit.

“I think that the girls did a really good job of not giving up, of fighting through to come back there in the bottom of the sixth and then to come back in the bottom of the seventh both times,” Story said. “We had some kids get some big hits and really did a good job.

“Right now, we’re just trying to play for the state tournament. Our goal is to try and get every conference game one at a time and play our best. ... That’s kind of what we want, peak late and they’re doing a good job of that.”

Massey had two hits, including a double. She was also the winning pitcher in relief, going 1 2/3 innings. Southside starter Meliah Hunter struck out five in her 5 1/3 innings of work.

Conklin went 3-for-4, including an RBI triple in the first and a two-run single during the pivotal five-run sixth. Hogue went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Piper Morgan singled and drove in two runs.

Southside will continue 7A-Central action today with a doubleheader at North Little Rock, beginning at 4:30 p.m. from Burns Park.
