ROGERS — Rogers High softball coach Mike Harper had some simple instructions for Emily Kinney before the start of the bottom of the seventh inning against Rogers Heritage in a 7A/6A-West Conference game Tuesday.
"If you get on, we will get you in," Harper said.
7A/6A-West Conference
Rogers High 3, Rogers Heritage 2
Heritage^100^100^0^ —^2^6^2
Rogers^100^001^1^ —^3^5^1
Donahoe and Newton; Zimmerman and Kinney. W — Zimmerman. L — Donahoe. HRs — None.
That proved to be the case.
Kinney opened the seventh with a double to deep center and pinch runner Sydney Duvall stole third before scoring on a perfect bunt by Maddy Prough as the Lady Mounties defeated the Lady War Eagles 3-2 at Veterans Park.
Rogers (8-8, 4-2 7A/6A-West) trailed 2-1 after five innings but scored single runs the final two innings to notch the victory.
"Emily comes out and hits a double, and I thought it was out of here after she first hit it," Harper said. "Then we manufactured the other run. It was a great job by Maddy, a freshman in that spot. She is a good bunter, that is why we left her there."
Rogers tied the game in the sixth inning after the first two Lady Mounties reached on back-to-back infield errors by the Lady War Eagles. Both runners advanced on a deep flyout by Haylee Zimmerman and Kylan Hensley scored on a groundout RBI by Maddie Massanelli.
"Huge win to go 4-2 in conference because we are battling Heritage for a playoff spot," Harper said.
Heritage (8-11, 2-4) out hit the Lady Mounties 6-5. They took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Dasha Donahoe singled and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Sydney Lehr. Taylor Easley led Heritage with three hits from her leadoff spot while No. 2 hitter Kenzi Ziem had two hits.
But the Lady War Eagles left six runners stranded in the game, including three in scoring position.
"All throughout the game, we left runners on," Heritage coach Tiffany Taylor said. "Like I told the kids after the game, even with two outs, we need to find a way to get them in. We can't leave them stranded out there."
Zimmerman went the distance for Rogers to pick up the win. She struckout two and did not walk a batter. Donahoe took the loss after striking out three without walking a batter.
Rogers returns to 7A/6A-West action Thursday when they host Springdale High at Veterans Park. Heritage travels to Siloam Springs for a conference game.
Sports on 04/16/2014