BENTONVILLE -- Kent Early likes Keelah Griffith's chances when she's at the plate, even when she's behind in the count.

That was the case Thursday afternoon as the junior belted a solo home run to start the fifth inning, and that was all the scoring as Bentonville High claimed a 1-0 victory over Van Buren during 7A-West Conference softball action at the Tiger Athletic Complex.

"She loves that position," Early said of Griffith. "She even goes into that two-strike approach early in the count. That's something she has a lot of confidence with, and all of her home runs have come with two strikes. When it comes clutch time, that kid shows up."

It was an 0-2 pitch that Griffith found to her liking, and she belted it over the left-center field fence for her second home run of the season and the ninth in six games for the Lady Tigers (6-0, 2-0).

"Coach Early just told me to find one -- find one and square it up," Griffith said. "A bunch of us found balls to hit, but mine just happened to go out.

"When I was a freshman, coach Early taught me how to do the two-strike approach. Ever since then, it just worked for me."

It was the only blemish in a pitchers' duel between Bentonville's Maddy Prough and Van Buren's McKennah Sykes, both of whom had allowed only three hits to that point.

Prough celebrated her 18th birthday by making Griffith's blast stand. The senior right-hander, now 5-0, didn't give up another hit and finished with 11 strikeouts, while Sykes just allowed five hits and struck out four.

"Prough did her job in the circle," Early said. "She worked out of her only jam, and that's what she does. There's never any scare factor in her.

"Sikes is also an excellent pitcher. She mixes speeds and hits her spots. She's the heart and soul of her team, no doubt. We were just one hit better, and we got lucky."
