Lady Royals Beat Lady Eagles 7-4 In First Round of OFC

The two highest seeds playing in the first round of Tuesday’s Ozark Foothills Conference softball tournament at McLane Park did not have much trouble advancing to the tournament semifinals. Second-seeded Neelyville rolled past No. 7 East Carter 12-5, while No. 3 Twin Rivers shook off a slow start to defeat sixth-seeded Naylor 7-2. In the late game Tuesday, No. 5 Greenville provided a minor upset as the Lady Bears downed fourth-seeded Clearwater 5-1. Wednesday’s semifinals are set for J.D. Rains Field on the campus of Three Rivers College and will feature Neelyville taking on Twin Rivers at 1 p.m., followed by Greenville facing top-seeded Doniphan at 3 p.m. The third-seeded Lady Royals scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to erase an early deficit and seize control of Tuesday’s game. Abigail Suiter singled home Emma Vancil to tie the game at 2-2, then Layla Tompkins’ base hit scored Suiter and Reese Crismon to put Twin Rivers ahead 4-2. Suiter stretched the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when she doubled home Charly Johnson and Alexis Parson. Anne Mittlestadt then doubled home Madison Hockersmith in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-2 and cap the game’s scoring. Mittlestadt, Parson and Suiter each had two hits for Twin Rivers, while Suiter drove in three runs. Haley Sullivan, Harley Sullivan and Chloe Mitchell each had two hits for Naylor. Destiny Thomas took the loss despite striking out 10 Lady Royals.