Griffin Rallies Rogers High Past Bentonville

Friday, April 5, 2013

ROGERS — Clark Griffin’s mitt kept Rogers High’s baseball team out of a deeper hole; his bat helped pull the Mounties out of the hole.

The senior catcher thwarted a Bentonville scoring threat with an alert defensive play, and his three-run double put Rogers ahead to stay en route to a 5-3 victory in the first game of a 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader Thursday at Veterans Park.

Griffin bounced from behind the plate and turned Cody Scroggins’ sacrifice bunt attempt into a double play in the top of the second inning. He then followed a trio of two-out walks with a three-run double to right-center field, giving Rogers a 4-2 lead.

“I thought that was the turning point of the game,” Rogers coach Matt Melson said of Griffin’s catch. “We turn that double play, and they don’t get to add on. We were able to keep it 2-0 at the time.

“It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest game, but conference wins — when you can get them — are golden.”

Brett D’Amico added an insurance run when his double drove in Griffin, and that was all the offense Luke Greear (3-1) needed. The senior left-hander, the second of three Mounties pitchers, pitched five-plus innings and allowed an unearned run on only two hits.

Greear entered the game after starter Brett Gentz allowed two runs in the first and allowed his fourth walk to start the second. Greear allowed a single to Chris Mizelle, but he didn’t allow another Bentonville runner until Scroggins singled with one-out in the fifth.

“He did a good job on us,” Bentonville coach Todd Abbott said of Greear. “We were down a few runs, and I think our batters were a little overanxious at the plate.

“We were trying to a little more than what we needed at the time. He pitched down in the zone, and that’s what they needed from that guy.”

Bentonville did cut it to 5-3 in the fifth on Scroggins’ single and a double error, then chased Greear with Clay Lewis’ leadoff double in the seventh. D’Amico, however, retired the Tigers in order to pick up the save.

ROGERS HIGH 5, BENTONVILLE 3

Bentonville 200 010 0 — 3 5 0

Rogers 050 000 x — 5 6 2

Scroggins, Fitch (5) and Lewis: Gentz, Greear (2), D’Amico (7) and Griffin. W-Greear, 3-2. L-Scroggins, 1-1. Sv-D’Amico (3). HR-None.

Game 2

Bentonville 17, Rogers High 8

Chris Mizelle went 5-for-5 and scored four runs, while Scroggins added three hits and drove in four runs as Bentonville bounced back in the second game.

Chad Musteen belted as two-run home run in the second inning as the Tigers (11-5, 5-1) jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. Rogers (9-6, 3-3) did close the gap to 9-6 in the third when Gentz blasted a three-run home run well over the left-field fence.

Preston Rosales pitched 4.2 innings of relief for starter and picked up the victory. Nolan Farnan lasted only two innings and took the loss.

Both teams return to nonconference action today when they take on Tulsa (Okla.) Bishop Kelley at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Bentonville will play the first game at 4:30 p.m., followed by Rogers at approximately 7.

BENTONVILLE 17, ROGERS HIGH 8

Bentonville 360 141 2 — 17 15 2

Rogers 024 002 0 — 8 8 4

Reed, Rosales (3) and Koenigseder. Farnan, D’Amico (3), Tracey (6), Sallee (7) and Griffin; W-Rosales. L-Farnan. HR-Bentonville, Musteen; Rogers, Gentz.