PREP BASEBALL NOTEBOOK: Springdale Looks To Be More Aggressive

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Springdale High coach Billy Ray Rutledge wants his hitters to be more aggressive after watching them be a bit too passive in last week’s doubleheader with Bentonville.

The Bulldogs (5-6, 2-2 7A/6A-West Conference) managed just six hits while being outscored 21-3 in back-to-back losses to the Tigers at the Tyson Sports Complex.

“We let too many hittable pitches go. We’ve got to be more aggressive early in the count,” Rutledge said. “A lot of times, if the first-pitch festal is there, you’ve got to be ready to swing at it, and we let too many of those go.”

Springdale was scheduled to return to the field last Friday against Gentry, but the game was canceled because of wet conditions. Rutledge said the game hasn’t been rescheduled yet, but his more pressing issue is getting his players to swing at more pitches.

Especially strikes.

“We focused a lot on putting the ball in play. We’ve got to be a lot better with two strikes,” Rutledge said as his team prepared to host Van Buren in a doubleheader today. “We’ve got to be more aggressive on pitches early, especially if the guy is throwing strikes.”

MOUNTIES BUILD CONFIDENCE, STREAK

ROGERS - Rogers High is on a roll entering today’s key 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader with Bentonville at Veterans Park.

The Mounties (8-5, 2-2) have won four straight games, including taking a pair of conference games from Van Buren last week.

“Four victories has given our kids some confidence, but we know that Bentonville has a lot of talent,” Rogers coach Matt Melson said. “It’s going to be a tough challenge, but I am excited with the way we have been playing.”

Konstantin Storkov has been a bright spot in the Mounties lineup as the senior is batting .359 with seven RBI. Austin Griffin has also been swinging a hot bat as the senior is hitting .300 with 10 RBI and two home runs. Camdon Myers is also above .300 at .316.

Storkov had the game winning hit in the Mounties 1-0 victory against Ozark, Mo. Friday.

“That was a super at-bat, an 11-pitch at-bat,” Melson said. “He is solid and just goes about his business. He has been a quiet leader for us, and he has had some huge hits. He has picked us up in a lot of key spots.”

Brett Gentz will get the first game start on the mound against the Tigers today, and the junior has a 3.82 ERA. Either Brett D’Amico, who has 2.67 ERA with 21 strikeouts, or Nolan Farnan will start the second game.

-PAUL NIELSEN

WAR EAGLES BOUNCE BACK

Rogers Heritage came back strong after dropping a 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader at Fayetteville last week with an 8-5 win over Springfield (Mo.) Chicago on Thursday.

The War Eagles got a big boost from the bottom of the batting order in the victory.

Steven Undernehr went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple. The senior drove in three runs and scored twice.

The bottom third of the batting order was center stage in both of Heritage’s four-run innings, which was something War Eagles baseball coach Keith Killer enjoyed.

“It’s always good to get production from the bottom of the order,” Killer said. “It was good to get back on the field after an emotional game against Fayetteville.”

Undernehr two-out, two-run double to left field snapped a 1-1 tie in the fourth. He added a run-scoring triple in a four-run sixth. Josh Quails also added two hits and an RBI.

Heritage (8-8, 0-4 7A/6AWest) is scheduled to host Siloam Springs today at Veterans Park.

-PAUL BOYD

TIGERS NOT READY FOR RAINY WEATHER

The last thing Bentonville baseball team wants to see this week is inclement weather, especially with the way the Tigers have played recently.

Bentonville (10-4, 4-0 7A/6AWest Conference) carries a six-game winning streak into a league double-header against Rogers High at Veterans Park. Today’s two games, however, is being threatened by rain.

“It’s not looking very promising,” Tigers coach Todd Abbott said. “We have everything clicking right now, and we’re hoping to play sooner rather than later.”

Bentonville continued its winning ways with a doubleheader sweep at Springdale High in which the Tigers piled up 21 runs, followed by a 6-2 non-conference victory over Webb City, Mo.

Cody Scroggins contributed with his bat and his arm in the first win over Springdale. Abbott credited Kasey Ford and Carter Brown for their combined pitching effort against Webb City, while Jimmy Short had a good game at the plate.

“We also had some solid defense,” Abbott said.

“There were several areas in which we got just what we needed.”

-HENRY APPLE

Sports, Pages 6 on 04/02/2013