ROGERS -- Kacey Murphy tossed a one-hitter and struck out 16 to lead Rogers Heritage to a tough 1-0 win over Springdale Har-Ber in game one of a 7A-West Conference baseball doubleheader Tuesday at Veterans Park.
The senior left-hander retired the last 15 Wildcats he faced and did not walk a batter.
Prep Baseball
Game 1
Rogers Heritage 1, Springdale Har-Ber 0
Har-Ber^000^000^0^—^0^1^2
Heritage^001^000^x^—^1^2^0
Phillips and Lloyd; Murphy and Lamproe. W-Murphy, 3-0. L-Phillips, 2-1. Sv-None. HR-None.
Game 2
Springdale Har-Ber 8, Rogers Heritage 0
Har-Ber^111^320^0^—^8^6^0
Heritage^000^000^0^—^0^0^2
Rogers, Stephens (7) and Thompson, Lloyd (5), Pardun (7); Harris, Easley (4), Mason (4) and Lamproe, Kitterman (5). W-Rogers, 2-0. L-Harris, 1-2. Sv-None. HR-None.
Heritage (4-4, 2-2 7A-West) pushed across the only run of the game in the third inning, with help from a Har-Ber error. Dane Olsen drew a one-out walk and went all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw by Wildcats starter Kurt Phillips.
Senior Chase Kilgore then skied a fly ball deep down the right-field line. Har-Ber's Devin Suk-Amnouay caught the ball, but Olsen trotted home with the only run of the game.
That was all Murphy needed.
"Kacey was electric," Heritage coach Keith Kilgore said. "He was good, but equally impressive was Phillips on the other side. We had a big at-bat there by Chase. He came up in a key situation and got the bat on the ball. Against great teams, you've got to take advantage when you have a chance to score."
Har-Ber's Josh Stephens slapped a two-out single up the middle in the first, but Murphy picked him off to end the inning. No other Wildcat reached base.
Phillips was the hard-luck loser, allowing an unearned run on two hits. He struck out six, walked four and hit a batter.
Game 2
Springdale Har-Ber 8, Rogers Heritage 0
Wildcats left-hander Weston Rogers silenced the Heritage bats in game two.
The Arkansas signee threw six no-hit innings, and Stephens added a hitless seventh for the Wildcats (7-3, 3-2 7A-West).
Har-Ber scored single runs in each of the first three innings, including two on wild pitches by Heritage starter Ty Harris (1-2).
Rogers (2-0) struck out 11 and walked two.
Har-Ber coach Ron Bradley was pleased with Rogers' strong finish, after a shaky start.
"He has been battling mono, so those last three innings were good to see," Bradley said. "Stephens had a good ballgame. His double down the line there kind of broke the game open."
Stephens slapped a two-run double as part of a three-run fourth inning. Adam Scoggins, who went 2-for-3 added a two-run home run in the fifth.
Paul Boyd can be contacted by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulB.
Sports on 04/01/2015