SPRINGDALE HIGH

Bulldogs Gain Experience In Batesville Tourney

Springdale High finished 1-2 in the Batesville Tournament over the weekend, winning a Friday matchup with Beebe before dropping games against Jonesboro and Batesville on Saturday.

Matt Sherry earned the victory in a relief role in the 10-6 win over Batesville, his second win in four days after striking out 12 in a win against Siloam Springs. The Bulldogs (6-10) lost 11-4 to Jonesboro and 14-4 to Batesville on Saturday to round out tournament play.

"We had the opportunity to get some other guys some innings and found a couple of guys who will get an opportunity to pitch more," Springdale coach Billy Ray Rutledge said. "We had a lot of quality at bats over the weekend and are playing better defense. We just have cut down on the walks and let our defense play."

Springdale will jump back into 7A/6A-West Conference play at 4:30 p.m. today in a doubleheader at Bentonville.

– Jimmy Carter • @NWAJIMMY

ROGERS HERITAGE

War Eagles Off To Strong Start

Rogers Heritage coach Keith Kilgore likes the way his team is playing right now, but he understands there's a long way to go in the 7A/6A-West Conference race.

The War Eagles (11-2, 4-0 7A/6A-West) currently sit atop league standings tied with defending conference and 7A state champion Fayetteville. That could change today as the co-leaders square off in a doubleheader at Veterans Park in Rogers. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

"I'll use the words fortunate and blessed but not shocked with the way we've started the season," Kilgore said. "Right now the kids are playing well and playing with a lot of confidence. We're getting great individual efforts from certain people but also collectively as a team.

"Our pitchers are taking us deep into games. We're playing pretty good defense and getting timely hitting up and down the lineup."

Junior Kacey Murphy is 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 23.2 innings on the mound and leads the War Eagles with a .528 batting average. He also has one home run and 12 RBIs. Senior Dalton McKaughan is next at .410, while junior Ty Harris has a team-high 13 RBIs, including 10 in conference play. Senior Colton Wetzler is also 3-0 on the mound with a 0.93 ERA and hitting .353 with two homers and 10 RBIs.

Those numbers were prior to Heritage's two nonconference wins over the weekend.

PAUL BOYD • @NWAPAULB

ROGERS HIGH

Mounties Look To Rebound

Rogers High (7-6, 2-2 7A/6A-West Conference) faces a tough home test today when Van Buren visits for a league doubleheader. Van Buren (6-7, 2-2) has wins against Springdale Har-Ber and Bentonville so far this year in conference play.

Rogers opened league play with a sweep of Springdale High, but it dropped a doubleheader to Fayetteville last week while not scoring a run in either game.

"I'm not sure we know where we really fit yet in the conference race," Rogers coach Matt Melson said. "We have not played our best baseball yet. Van Buren is always tough, and they seem to be on the same level as Har-Ber and Bentonville. These are huge games when it comes to qualifying for the state tournament."

Melson said Brett Gentz will start the first game with Brett D'Amico slated to start the nightcap. D'Amico could also pitch in relief in the first game, if needed, and also start the second game. Nolan Farnan is also available for the Mounties.

D'Amico had a strong outing in a 5-0 loss to Fayetteville last week, striking out five and scattering eight hits in a game that saw Rogers with just one hit.

"Our park is a little more forgiving," Melson said. "Gentz has been our most consistent pitcher the last two years. D'Amico settled into a routine against Fayetteville, and that was exciting to see. D'Amico is capable of a dominating performance every time out."

Rogers is batting .331 as a team, and No. 7 hitter Bryce Bray has been a bright spot for the Mounties. Bray is batting .324 with nine RBIs and two home runs.

"Bryce is a real coachable kid that is making in-game adjustments," Melson said. "When you can adjust on the fly, that is a plus."

PAUL NIELSEN • @NWAPaul

FAYETTEVILLE

Another Strong Weekend For Bulldogs

Fayetteville won three of four games over the weekend at the USA Classic in Memphis. The Bulldogs (14-3, 4-0 7A/6A-West) lost in the championship game to Suwanee (Ga.) Lambert, a team ranked No. 10 nationally by MaxPreps and No. 16 by Baseball America.

"We played well," said Fayetteville coach Vance Arnold. "The kids have grown up a lot. In the last game, the other team just had a little more depth than us."

The Bulldogs limited top pitchers Kyle Pate and Andy Pagnozzi to just brief stints on the mound over the weekend. Cody Davenport, Walker Powell and Ethan King got the bulk of the pitching work while John Buschelle made his first appearance of the season in a 13-11 win Thursday against Covington, Tenn.

"The big plus was John Buschelle," Arnold said. "We were able to get him out there, and I probably kept him in the game a little too long and that changed the game a little bit. But he did real well."

Fayetteville visits Rogers Heritage for a 4:30 p.m. doubleheader today in a battle of conference co-leaders.

"Heritage is getting good pitching from their A pitchers, and the top of their lineup really seems to be hitting the ball well," Arnold said. "Hopefully these last two weekends and having to play hard in every inning of every game will help us in these games."

VERNON TARVER • @NWAVernon

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER

Wildcats Go 3-1 Over Weekend

The Wildcats turned their bats loose in tournament play over the weekend, posting impressive wins in three of their four games.

Har-Ber (10-4, 1-3 7A/6-West) scored 11 or more runs in each of its three wins. The lone blemish on the Wildcats' stellar weekend was a 5-3 loss to Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo, when they managed just two hits.

Senior Gus Vitt had a big weekend offensively, collecting seven hits in the four games, including a pair of doubles and triples. Phillip Cebuar was also a big stick in the Har-Ber lineup with seven RBIs. Caleb Gray smacked a grand slam in Har-Ber's 14-6 win against Cape Girardeau (Mo.) Central.

Har-Ber, which travels to Siloam Springs today for a conference doubleheader, routed Rolla, Mo., 11-1 Saturday as Brett Shumate and Caleb Daniels combined on a four-hitter. Brady Patrick, Alex Schemel and Holden Thornton all had multiple hits in the win.

CHIP SOUZA • @nwaChip

Sports on 04/08/2014