BENTONVILLE -- Kasey Ford only appeared to be in trouble when he allowed a leadoff walk to start the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.
Bentonville's junior right-hander quickly found his groove and threw a two-hitter as Bentonville opened 7A-West Conference play with a 5-1 victory over Springdale Har-Ber at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
7A-West Conference Baseball
Game 1
Bentonville 5, Springdale Har-Ber 1
Har-Ber^000^100^0^—^1^2^0
Bentonville^113^000^X^—^5^7^0
Daniels, Phillips (3) and Lloyd, Hardin (6); Ford and Bratspies. W-Ford, 1-0. L-Daniels, 1-1. Sv-None. HR-None.
Game 2
Springdale Har-Ber 2, Bentonville 1
Har-Ber^002^000^0^—^2^6^1
Bentonville^001^000^0^—^1^3^2
Rosales, Brown (7) and Bratspies; Pianalto, Rogers (5) and Lloyd. W-Pianalto, 1-0. L-Rosales, 0-2. Sv-Rogers (1). HR-None.
"I started a little rough, but once I settled in everything went my way," Ford said. "Pretty much anything I threw worked. It was one of those days when nothing could go wrong. As a team, everything clicked for us, and it looked great."
Ford (1-0) finished with 16 strikeouts and threw 105 pitches, 70 for strikes. His bid for a no-hitter and a shutout ended in the fourth inning when Zach Stanley's single drove in Josh Stephens, who was hit by a pitch and went to third on two passed balls.
Bentonville was already in control at that point with a 5-0 lead, doing all of its scoring in the first three innings. Brian Gloeckler delivered an RBI single in the first, and the Tigers added a run off a wild pitch in the second before scoring three in the third off Har-Ber starter Caleb Daniels (1-1).
Matt Bratspies delivered the big hit with a bases-loaded single and drove in two runs, then Ford helped his cause when his single drove in Bentonville's final run.
"The kid threw a great game," Har-Ber coach Ron Daniels said of Ford. "It was like he was in a rocking chair. We never took him out of his rhythm, and he had great command except for one or two hitters. We only had two hitters that put a good swing on him the whole game."
Game 2
Springdale Har-Ber 2, Bentonville 1
Kaleb Pianalto and Weston Rogers combined on a three-hitter, and Zach Stanley provided the offense as Har-Ber forced a split.
Stanley broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third when his single drove in Stephens, who had reached on a one-out single. Stanley later scored as Caleb Gray reached on an error to give the Wildcats (2-1, 1-1) a 2-0 cushion.
That was all the offense the Wildcats needed as Pianalto (1-0) pitched four innings and allowed one run on three hits, while Rogers threw three hitless innings for the save. Preston Rosales (0-2) suffered the loss as he allowed two runs over six hits through 6.1 innings.
Bentonville (2-2, 1-1) scored its run in the third as Cody Scroggins walked and came home on Carter Brown's two-out single. The Tigers stranded three runners in scoring position over the last three innings.
Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry
Sports on 03/18/2015