ROGERS — Rogers High will look to stay in the chase for a 7A/6A-West Conference softball championship when Fayetteville visits today.
Rogers (7-3) is two games behind league-leading Fayetteville (8-1) and tied with Bentonville for second in the league standings. The top two teams get a first round bye to the Class 7A State Tournament.
Rogers travels to Springdale Har-Ber (6-4) on Friday.
“It’s kind of cool to be in the running this late in the year, and we are looking forward to the challenge,” Rogers coach Mike Harper said. “Both Fayetteville and Har-Ber have good teams, so it is going to be exciting to see if we are up to it or not.”
Rogers defeated Bentonville 4-3 in its last league game as the Lady Mounties turned in a complete all-around performance.
“We need to continue to build off that,” Harper said. “This week is a great opportunity for our kids.”
Cody Scoles has been providing solid senior leadership and Harper hopes that trend continues this week. Scoles is batting .302 and she leads the team in doubles with five.
“Cody has continued to play well and we need her to show continued leadership in these next two games,” Harper said.
Freshman Maddie Massanelli has been another bright spot with a .340 average. She has struck out just three times in 19 games.
“Maddie puts the ball in play almost every time, and she is cool under pressure,” Harper said. “We need her to play well for us to be effective.”
— PAUL NIELSEN
Lady’Dogs Split Set At Tournament
Fayetteville hosted its 4-Team Tournament over the weekend, posting a 1-1 record against Greenwood and Dardanelle.
The Lady Bulldogs had nine hits, including a grand slam home run by Taylor Barginear, in the first game of the tournament against Greenwood. But four errors in the field helped allow Greenwood to post an 8-7 victory.
Fayetteville (16-6, 8-1 7A/6A West) even its record in the tournament with a convincing, 15-2 victory against Dardanelle. Senior Brittany Hoskins had two home runs and six RBIs in the win and picked up her second pitching win of the season.
The Lady’Dogs are back in conference action the next two days, visiting Rogers High today and Siloam Springs on Friday.
— VERNON TARVER
Lady Bulldogs Take Away Hits
Springdale High coach Ashlee Friend has stressed to her players the importance of making defensive plays.
She calls it “taking away hits,” and the Lady Bulldogs made several hit-saving catches in Monday’s 6-0 win over Greenland.
“We had one girl catching one off the fence, and one going all the way out into foul territory and get it,” Friend said. “It kept the game in our hands. We kept the momentum, and we were able to shut them out.”
Friend said she hopes the win will give Springdale (3-16, 0-9) a much-needed boost and the confidence to close out the week strong with today’s game against Van Buren and another one Friday against Rogers Heritage.
The Lady Bulldogs have worked on making defensive plays in the outfield, especially on long fly balls. Meanwhile, they got timely hits and solid pitching from junior Chelsea Baldwin against Greenland.
“We just kind of put everything together that we’ve been working hard on,” Friend said. “We hit the ball, Chelsea only gave up three hits and we had some great plays in the outfield taking away a couple of hits.
“We’ve been working hard on that, so they had momentum in a couple of innings and we broke it by making those big plays.”
— ALEX ABRAMS
Har-Ber Eager For Road Test
Springdale Har-Ber hopes for a fast start in tonight’s conference game at Siloam Springs.
Getting some early run production is crucial against the Lady Panthers, who outscored Springdale High 17-12 in league play last week.
“You have to do everything that you can to overcome that comfortable feeling that the home team has,” Har-Ber coach Lynn Lawson said. “So, getting some early hits and runs are very important.”
Har-Ber rallied late to defeat Van Buren 6-1 last week at home. Emily Stockalper and Morgan Neal each had three hits for the Lady Wildcats (9-8, 6-4), who are fourth in the league standings behind Fayetteville, Rogers, and Bentonville.
Siloam Springs (6-10, 2-7) is in seventh place ahead of Springdale.
“Every game is important if you want to at least maintain your conference standings,” Lawson said. “Any team in this conference is capable of defeating any other team on a given night.”
— RICK FIRES