ROGERS — Rogers High senior Timmy Seldomridge picked a good time to break out of a slump Wednesday.
Seldomridge went to the plate in the bottom of the sixth hitless in his previous 11 7A/6A-West Conference plate appearances but the Arkansas State signee ripped a two-out, two-run triple as the Mounties scored three runs to defeat Van Buren 5-4.
7A/6A-West Conference
Game 1
Rogers High 5, Van Buren 4
Van Buren^100^020^1^ —^ 4^10^1
Rogers^000^023^x^ — ^5^6^1
Gentz and Ivey; Anders and Hogan. W — Gentz. L — Anders. HRs — None
Game 2
Rogers High 3, Van Buren 2
Van Buren^000^020^0^ —^ 2^4^0
Rogers^000^201^x^ — ^3^5^1
D’Amico, Farnan (5) and Ivey; Eversole, Butterworth (6) and Hogan. W — Farnan. L — Butterworth. HRs — None
Zach Arrick followed Seldomridge's triple with an RBI double to give Rogers a 5-3 lead in what turned out to be a huge insurance run. The game ended in the top of the seventh when Mounties right fielder Carter Forbis threw out Van Buren pinch runner Zac Stobaugh at the plate to end the game.
"That was a big, big hit by Timmy," Rogers coach Matt Melson said. "It was good for Timmy because he has been struggling a little bit. Arrick also had a big hit. That is what seniors do, they step up at big times."
Seldomridge had just two hits in his previous 16 plate appearances, but the he ripped a fastball to the corner in right to score Grayson Lee and Matt Turner.
"It felt really good to get a hit in a situation like that," Seldomridge said. "The pitch was in, but I kept my hands in and went the other way. I hadn't been doing to well at the plate, but getting that hit should help me."
Brett Gentz went the distance for Rogers to pick up his second conference pitching victory. Gentz gave up 10 hits but struckout six while giving up three earned runs. Van Buren led 3-0 before Rogers scored five straight, including two in the fifth on a RBI double by Arrick and and a RBI single by Nolan Farnan.
"Brett really held his composure," Melson said. "He kept grinding in the middle of the game until the offense got going. We just grinded out a win, and we found a way to get it done."
Caleb Bauman, Jake Bogner and Dalton Kelley had two hits each for the Pointers. Hunter Hogan had an RBI single in the top of the seventh for Van Buren to cut the lead to 5-4 but Forbis ended the game on the play with a strong throw to Mounties catcher Jacob Ivey.
Game 2
Rogers 3, Van Buren 2
Rogers (9-6, 4-2 7A/6A-West) completed the sweep with another sixth inning rally when Derek Sallee hit an RBI single to score Forbis for a 3-2 lead. Forbis started things in the sixth with a one-out single and he finished with two of the Mounties five hits.
Rogers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the fourth behind RBI singles by Gentz and Forbis, but the Pointers (6-9, 2-4) tied it with two in the fifth on RBI singles by Spencer Rapin and Bogner.
Rogers ended the fourth and fifth innings with double plays.
Sports on 04/10/2014