FAYETTEVILLE — A pair of three-run innings was enough for Bentonville to win the Class 7A baseball state championship Friday night at Baum Stadium.
The Tigers scored three runs in the second and third innings and Kasey Ford threw a complete game en route to a 6-5 win over Conway. It is Bentonville’s second baseball title, with the other coming in 2002.
After a passed ball plated one run, Blake Werner it a two-run single to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead in the second.
Conway got a run in the fourth, but a balk, RBI single by Paul Rouse and RBI groundout by Ben Nordin in the fifth helped Bentonville build a 6-1 lead.
The Wampus Cats cut the lead to three in the bottom half of the inning and added another run in the sixth.
Holding onto a 6-4 lead going into the final inning, Ford went back onto the mound, despite having already thrown 101 pitches.
Conway scored a run on a passed ball and had runners on first and second with two outs, but Ford got Kolby Reck to fly out to right to end the game.
The Kansas State commit gave up five runs (three of which were earned) on eight hits and five walks, while striking out six in seven innings. He threw 130 pitches in the outing.
Ford, who also led Bentonville to the Class 7A championship as a quarterback in football, was named the game’s MVP.