BATESVILLE --- The memory of missing last year's state tournament drove the 2025 Marion softball team throughout the off-season and into the spring. So far, Marion's revenge tour has been a smashing success. The latest example came Tuesday afternoon at Batesville, where Marion won its ninth straight game by sweeping a 5A East doubleheader at Batesville North Athletic Complex, pounding the Pioneers by scores of 15-1 and 18-2. Marion achieved its high-water mark of the spring, moving to 18-7 overall in 2025 with a sterling 11-1 record in 5A East play. In addition to Marion's twinbill success on Tuesday afternoon, Searcy dealt league-leading Greene County Tech the Eagles' first loss, setting the stage for Tuesday's season-ending 5A East doubleheader between Greene County Tech and Marion at Marion. Should either team sweep the final double-dip, that school would be the outright conference champion. In the event of a split between the teams, Marion and Tech would be co-conference champions, and the No. 1 playoff seed would go to the team with the greater margin of victory against the other,r with the other team settling for the No. 2 seed. Marion can only finish first or second in this year's state tournament field. The Patriots set the tone early at Batesville, scoring four times in the first inning of the first game and six more times in the second stanza, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back home runs by Kayson McClain, Kendall Eppes, and Kynlee Shaull, as the Pats cruised by 13 runs. Marion scored the game's first nine runs of the nightcap before pulling away and enforcing the sportsmanship rule with a nine-run bottom of the fourth to complete the series sweep. The fightin' Pats got a dominant performance from senior right-hander Maddie Cupples, who earned the victory in the lid-lifter. Cupples fired five innings at Batesville, allowing only four hits and no earned runs to earn the win. Marion's offense stayed hot, pounding out 16 hits in Game No. 1, including multiple-hit efforts from centerfielder Chloe Miller (2-5 with two RBI and two runs), leftfielder Kolbie Triplett (4-5 with two runs and an RBI), McClain (2-5 with three RBI and a run), Shaull (3-3 with three runs and an RBI), while shortstop Presley Kuhn and third baseman Madelyn Hamrick each drove in two runs apiece, while Kaitlyn Austin scored twice and plated a run. Marion led 4-1 going to the second inning when Triplett led off with a solid single, and McClain cashed it in immediately with a long home run to left-center field for a 6-1 Patriot bulge. Eppes fell behind in the count 0-2 in the appearance following McClain when she pummeled a pitch to left field that also cleared the wall for a 7-1 Marion edge. On the first pitch she saw in the at bat following Eppes, Shaull ambushed a strike and ejected it from the field of play for an 8-1 Marion lead. A two-run Miller double gave the Pats a 10-1 lead after the top of the second. That was more than enough run support for Cupples, who retired 13 of the last 16 Pioneers she faced to help Marion to a 15-1 conquest in just five innings. A 20-minute break between games did little to throttle the Patriot attack as Marion scored six times in the bottom of the first in Game No. 2. The Marion uprising began when Miller coaxed a lead-off walk, stole second base, and scored on Triplett's triple to the gap. Marion picked up two runs on an error for a 3-0 lead, and it moved to 5-0 when Sophie Moore delivered Eppes and Kuhn with a hit. A Jordyn Stinson sacrifice fly plated Moore for Marion's sixth run. The Pats added three more runs in their next two plate appearances, and Batesville got two back in the top of the fourth, leading to the first 10 Marion batters reaching in the home half of the fourth. Cupples led off with a walk, and Kuhn reached on an error, and a Moore bunt single loaded the bags with nobody out. Stinson and Hamrick forced in runs with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, respectively, as Marion's lead swelled to 11-2, and Moore came down on a passed ball to give the Pats a 10-run advantage. Triplett chased in Hamrick and Stinson with a hit, and McClain delivered Miller with a knock of her own, and a two-run Moore single delivered Ashlynn Howard and Cupples to give Marion a victory by the sportsmanship rule. Shaull earned the victory in the second game after working 3.1 innings, striking out, and allowing just one hit and one earned run. Cupples pitched out of the bullpen in the nightcap, retiring both Pioneers she faced. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion plays at Bauxite on Thursday, May 1, in a non-conference tilt, and the Patriots travel to play Benton on Saturday in another non-league contest. The Patriots play their final 5A East doubleheader of the 2025 season on Tuesday, May 6, when they host defending league champion Greene County Tech inside AR Construction Stadium. First pitch of the Tech series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 4/29 Marion 15, Batesville 1 Marion 18, Batesville 2 Searcy 6, Greene Co. Tech 5 Greene Co. Tech 11, Searcy 7 Valley View 6, Paragould 5 Paragould 7, Valley View 6 Nettleton 17, W. Memphis 0 Nettleton 16, W. Memphis 11 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 4/30 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Marion 11-1+ Greene Co. Tech 11-1+ Searcy 8-4+ Valley View 8-4 Paragould 6-6 Nettleton 2-10 Batesville 0-12 W. Memphis 0-12 +clinched playoff berth The top four teams make the state tournament in Benton. 5A EAST SERIES ON 5/6 Greene Co. Tech at Marion Searcy at Valley View W. Memphis at Paragould Nettleton at Batesville