ROGERS — Rogers Heritage's Kacey Murphy is off to a great start this season and that didn't slow down Tuesday afternoon at Veterans Park.
The junior left-hander allowed just two earned runs and struck out 12 to help the War Eagles claim an 8-4 win over Bentonville in 7A/6A-West Conference baseball action in the first game of a doubleheader.
How They Scored
Game 1
Rogers Heritage 8, Bentonville 4
Bentonville^100^100^2^—^4^4^4
Rogers Heritage^011^042^x^—^8^13^3
Rosales, Fitch (5) and Koenigseder; Murphy and Norris. W-Murphy, 3-0. L-Rosales, 3-1. HRs-Heritage, Wetzler (2).
Game Two
Rogers Heritage 7, Bentonville 1
Bentonville^000^001^0^—^1^5^1
Rogers Heritage^002^032^x^—^7^12^1
Ford, Scroggins (6) and Koenigseder; Wetzler and Norris. W-Wetzler, 3-0. L-Ford, 2-3. HRs-Heritage, Harris (2).
Murphy also went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs, including a big two-run double in a four-run bottom of the fifth that helped Heritage snap a 2-2 tie and take the lead for good.
Murphy improved to 3-0, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits, while striking out 12 and walking three in the complete-game victory. He threw 125 pitches.
War Eagles coach Keith Kilgore said his team came up with big hits up and down the lineup, but Murphy did it all.
"What can you say about Kacey Murphy?," Kilgore said. "He's a competitor. He went 3-for-4, struck out 12. This was his game. He has had great outings for us since day one. He wanted to finish. His pitch count was a little higher than we wanted, but it was one of those going into the seventh inning we were comfortable where he was at."
"Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence right now. We came up with clutch hits when needed. He did a good job of changing speeds, but our kids battled and made adjustments at the plate. They did a good job of staying back and timing it against a good pitcher."
Dalton McKaughan also enjoyed a good day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk and scored a run. Colton Wetzler, Daniel Sanchez and Brandon Norris all added two hits each for Heritage.
Heritage took control with a four-run bottom of the fifth as Murphy crushed a two-run double into the right-center field gap against Bentonville starter Preston Rosales. Sanchez followed with a run-scoring double to the center field fence, scoring Murphy for a 5-2 lead.
Wetzler also crushed a two-run homer, his second of the season in the sixth to push Heritage's lead to 8-2.
Bentonville coach Todd Abbott credited Heritage with making key plays.
"What do you do? They got some big hits and we didn't help ourselves defensively," Abbott said. "The next thing you know there's a crooked number on the board. Their kid on the mound was throwing well. That's a tough combination."
Troy Cahill went 2-for-3 with two doubles and scored twice to lead the Tigers at the plate.
Game 2
Rogers Heritage 7, Bentonville 1
Wetzler took care of the mound duties, while McKaughan and Ty Harris carried the offense to help Heritage earn the doubleheader sweep and a share of first place in the conference.
Wetzler, a senior left-hander, allowed a run on five hits over seven innings to pick up the win and improve to 3-0 for the War Eagles (9-2, 4-0 7A/6A-West). He struck out six and walked three.
Harris and McKaughan each went 3-for-4 and combined for seven RBIs. Harris hammered a 3-2 pitch from Bentonville starter Kasey Ford for a three-run homer in the fifth inning to give Heritage a 5-0 lead. He drove in four runs and scored three times.
McKaughan also drove in three runs, while Murphy also went 3-for-3 as Heritage pounded out 12 hits.
Will Jibas and Chad Musteen had two hits each for Bentonville (7-4, 1-3). Musteen drove in the Tigers' lone run in the second game.
Sports on 04/02/2014