ROGERS — Rogers High will look to take another step toward the Class 7A State Tournament when it travels to Siloam Springs today for a 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader.
The games were originally scheduled for Thursday, but were moved up a day because of the threat of inclement weather.
Rogers (11-8) is 4-4 in league play after splitting a doubleheader with Springdale Har-Ber last week.
The Mounties are tied for fourth with Rogers Heritage, and they’re two games ahead of Springdale High and Van Buren. The top six teams advance to the state tournament.
Siloam Springs (2-15) is 0-8 in the conference, but Mounties coach Matt Melson said Rogers can’t afford to overlook the Panthers.
“This time of the year, every conference game is huge for us,” Melson said. “We have a chance to improve our seeding. But more than anything else, you want to be playing your best baseball of the season at this time.”
Rogers is expected to start Chris Greear and Nolan Farnan today while holding Brett D’Amico for relief, if needed.
D’Amico tossed a two-hitter against Har-Ber, but he was tagged with the loss after Rogers committed seven errors.
“We haven’t been playing good defense lately, and we can’t afford to give anything away,” Melson said. “Brett has been a hard-luck loser a couple of times this year. Brett is really throwing the ball well, and he likes throwing out of the bullpen.”
Har-Ber Eager To Return To The Field
Springdale Har-Ber is eager to get back on the baseball field after losing three of its last four games, including two over the weekend.
That’s why Har-Ber (14-6) doesn’t mind facing Fort Smith Southside on Thursday before continuing 7A/6A-West play at Bentonville on Friday. Southside (12-6) is a tough nonconference opponent that beat Rogers Heritage 3-1 on Monday.
“Southside is a really good club, but a win against them would be nice to build back some momentum,” Har-Ber coach Randy Salsbury said. “The Bentonville series is key for us. If we can do well in that series, then that kind of rights the ship a little bit.”
Har-Ber had some pitching failures while dropping consecutive games over the weekend. Claremore, Okla., rallied in the seventh inning for a 6-5 victory before the Wildcats were pounded at home, 12-6, by North Little Rock.
“Every baseball team goes through a stretch where things don’t go your way,” Salsbury said. “Things went our way early, and now we’ve had our little stretch where things haven’t turned out so well. Hopefully, our turn is coming again.”
— RICK FIRES
Heritage Looks To Start Another Streak
Rogers Heritage saw its seven-game winning streak come to a halt Monday afternoon against former 7A-West Conference foe Southside in a 3-1 loss.
But Heritage coach Keith Kilgore said playing teams like the Rebels only help the War Eagles better prepare for 7A/6A-West play.
Heritage (14-9, 4-4) has a big doubleheader at Van Buren coming up today. The games were originally scheduled for Thursday, but they were moved up because of the possiblity of rain on Thursday.
The War Eagles are currently tied with Rogers for fourth in the standings.
Junior Colton Wetzler leads the War Eagles with a .390 batting average and drove in Heritage’s only run on Monday with an RBI-double to center field. He’s been especially hot lately at the plate, going 10-for-20 in his last seven games with 11 RBIs.
But Heritage struggled to come up with that key hit on Monday. The War Eagles left the bases loaded in the second inning, but only by inches. Leadoff man Chase Kilgore slapped a ball down the right-field line, which would have likely scored a pair.
But it landed just inches foul, and he ended up striking out to end the inning.
The War Eagles scored one in the third, but left a runner in scoring position. They also had the tying runs on base in the seventh, but couldn’t bring them home.
“Offensively, we had opportunities and we didn’t get the big hit when needed, and they did,” Kilgore said. “Just needed a little spark and we didn’t get it today.
“We’ve just got to learn from it and keep battling.”
— PAUL BOYD
More Schedule Shifts For Fayetteville
With rain in the forecast Thursday, Fayetteville moved up its 7A/6A-West doubleheader to 4:30 p.m. today. The Bulldogs will face Springdale High at Fayetteville’s Bulldog Field.
Fayetteville is still a few games behind on the schedule after losing two more games to bad weather over the weekend. Playing in the Broken Arrow/Sand Springs, Okla. Wood Bat Tournament, the Purple’Dogs (13-2, 8-0) were able to get in three games in the tournament on Thursday and Friday.
But Saturday’s games were cancelled due to rain.
Fayetteville, ranked No. 2 in Class 7A in the latest Arkansas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll, defeated Coweta, Okla., 2-1 and Sand Springs, 7-0, at the Wood Bat Tournament. The Bulldogs suffered a 3-1 loss to Broken Arrow in the event, but faced Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Tyler Cobb — an Oklahoma State signee — on the mound in that game.
After its doubleheader with Springdale, the Purple’Dogs close out the week with a pair of games Saturday in Conway. Fayetteville faces Little Rock Catholic at 1 p.m. and Conway at 3:30 p.m.
— VERNON TARVER
Bulldogs Get Back To Hitting
Springdale coach Billy Ray Rutledge hasn’t had too many complaints with his hitters, aside from asking them to be more aggressive at the plate.
However, Rutledge admitted he was pleased to see his Bulldogs (6-10, 2-6) break out of their recent “dry spell” in Friday’s 14-7 win over Farmington in a nonconference game.
Gatlin Watson finished 4-for-4 and smacked his fifth home run of the season, and his teammates did enough offensively to give Rutledge a reason to be optimistic.
“We definitely swung the bats a lot better, got back to some things we were doing earlier in the year, being more aggressive earlier in the count and moving some runners around,” Rutledge said.
Rutledge said his hitters didn’t chase pitches and forced Farmington to throw strikes. He hopes his team can keep that rhythm going, though hitting hasn’t been a major concern for him this season.
The Bulldogs were batting .317 as a team heading into the Farmington game.
“We just kind of ran into a dry spell there where we weren’t getting timely hits,” Rutledge said. “We were able to get those more often against Farmington, so hopefully we can continue to do that.”
—ALEX ABRAMS