Lund on HR tear for BHS
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Sports/61548/
BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Lady Tigers, who first fielded a fastpitch softball team in the fall of 1997, combined to hit six home runs last year to set a single-season school record. It took all of five days for Faith Lund to fly past that mark all by herself this year. Bentonville’s All-State junior
pitcher is
turning heads as a hitter, too, lately as the Lady Tigers (21-3,
10-3 in 7 A-West ) get set to make a run at their first state title. They end the regular season today at home hosting Rogers (11-19, 6-7 ) for a makeup game. It starts at 5 p. m. Both teams will compete at the Class 7 A State Tournament that begins Friday in Russellville. A win by the Lady Tigers against Rogers gives them the No. 2 seed from the West and a bye until Saturday. Lund hit five home runs in a recent three-game stretch, giving her seven this year. She homered in Bentonville’s 4-1 win against Van Buren on April 25, hit two more in a 13-0 win against Har-Ber on April 28 and two more in the first game of a doubleheader at Fort Smith Southside on April 29, part of a 4 for 4 game in an 11-0 win.
“ Coach (Kent ) Early brought up a stat from my freshman year and told me how relaxed I was, ” Lund said. “ And he was right. I was too tense lately, so I just relaxed myself at the plate and stayed short (with my swing ) and it just happened. ”
The Lady Tigers won the second game against Southside 15-0 in three innings but the Lady Rebs wanted no part of Lund.
“ Her first at-bat in the second game was a single and it was a line drive and they didn’t give her another pitch to hit after that, ” joked Early, the third-year coach here with a 70-20 record. “ She’s on it right now. ”
Lund homered four times last season and is easily Bentonville’s career leader in the category with 12. Shortstop Tandie Bailey is No. 2 on the list with five, two of them coming this year.
Lund grew up in Long Beach, Calif., but moved here before her freshman year. She tried her hand at volleyball and even Irish dancing while growing up, but softball has been a constant activity.
“ From the time I was 6 or 7 years old; played a little baseball even, ” Lund says. “ The first time I saw a (softball ) team I was wondering why all the girls were playing baseball, like it was an all-girls team. My dad told me that was softball and I was like, ‘ Oh yeah. Sign me up. ’ I didn’t like playing with the boys. ”
As a ninth-grader at BHS, Lund pitched rarely. She was primarily a second baseman for the Lady Tigers and collected 30 hits while earning All-Conference honors. But she also pitched a no-hitter in a nonconference win against Mountain Home.
And here’s a bit of trivia. Know who earned the victory the last time Fayetteville lost a conference game ? It was Lund, who relieved All-State senior Sha Smith with a runner at second base and nobody out in the seventh inning of a tie game at Memorial Park on March 14, 2006.
Two strikeouts, an intentional walk and a groundout later, Lund sent the game to the bottom of the seventh where Ashley Harper won it 4-2 for the Lady Tigers with a two-out, two-run homer.
The Lady Bulldogs won their last 11 league games that year to finish 13-1 and are 14-0 in the West each of the last two seasons with two state titles.
“ I remember that game; very clearly, ” Lund says. “ When I went to pitch my heart was racing. ”
As a sophomore Lund went 18-6 as the team’s top pitcher in a rotation with Lauren Chisom. This year she is the clear No. 1, making every start for the Lady Tigers.
Against Springdale on Feb. 28, Lund set another school record with 18 strikeouts in a 3-0 win.
Lund also owns a five-inning, perfect game this year. She struck out 12 of the 15 batters faced in a 10-0 win against Gravette.
Bentonville has won 18 of 19 games since a 1-2 start in the 7 A-West. Included are a pair of nonconference wins against Fayetteville at a tournament in Conway last month.
Should the two teams meet again this year it’ll be in the state semifinals or championship game. There’ll be plenty of postseason pitfalls lurking between now and then, but for her part, Lund will be ready if the matchup happens.
“ It’s all mental with Fayetteville, ” she says. “ We think Fayetteville this and Fayetteville that. We shouldn’t have that anymore. We’ve got to get into the mindset that we can beat them. ”