ROGERS -- The log jam atop the the 7A-West Conference is little more crowded.
Bentonville used a three-run first inning, then held off a late Rogers High rally for a 5-4 win on Monday at Veterans Park.
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Ford, Williams (6) and Bratspies; Heffley and Field. W-Ford. L-Heffley. HRs-None.
With the win, the Tigers (15-7, 8-3) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the conference baseball standings with Fayetteville and Springdale Har-Ber. Rogers (18-6, 7-4) remained in second place. There are three league games remaining.
The Tigers got to Mounties' starter Harrison Heffley for three runs on three hits in the first inning, all scoring with two outs and all three runs coming home on two-strike singles. The 3-0 lead was huge, said Bentonville coach Todd Abbott.
"We had some really good at-bats in that first inning, hit some balls really hard," Abbott said. "We wanted to come out and jump on them hard, but give Heffley credit, he stayed right in there."
Nathan Lyons singled with one out, but Heffley got Kasey Ford to fly out to center for the second out before the Tigers loaded the bases on a walk and hit batter. Dalton Herrera hit a two-strike, opposite-field single to score two runs, then Justin Hines followed with another opposite field RBI and a 3-0 lead.
Heffley gave up single runs in the second and third innings and at one point Rogers coach Matt Melson had a relief pitcher warming up. But the left-hander battled back and shut the Tigers out over the final four innings to keep his team in the game.
It took the Mounties a little while to get their bats going against Ford, Bentonville's ace. Rogers scored a run in the first on a Bentonville error, then used a three-run fifth inning to climb back into the game.
Trailing 5-1, Grayson Lee led off the fifth with a single. The Mounties then launched back-to-back-to-back doubles from Heffley, Bradon Mabry and Jackson Field to pull within 5-4. But the Mounties could not get the trying run home from third base with one out.
"That was huge," Melson said. "We needed to be a little bit more aggressive in that spot. When you have easy runs, which is what we call a runner at third with less than two outs, you've got to be more aggressive up there."
The Mounties threatened again in the sixth, getting two runners on with one out, but Bentonville relief pitcher Jacob Williams struck out the heart of Rogers' order to preserve the one-run lead.
"Jacob Williams has done a great job this year," Abbott said. "He's been a guy that's thrown on the back end of games for us. He's a bulldog and he gets after it. That's exactly why we brought in in in that situation. He came in in a huge spot and came right after those guys."
Tyler Johnson and Herrera each had two hits for the Tigers. For Rogers, Heffley, Mabry and Field all had two hits.
The two teams will go at it again at 4:30 p.m. today in Bentonville.
Fayetteville 2, Springdale Har-Ber 1
Brady Patrick held Fayetteville to two hits through the first six innings before the Purple'Dogs rallied past Patrick and the Wildcats in their final at bat, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-1 victory Monday at Bulldog Field.
Braden Jordan got the rally started for Fayetteville (17-9, 8-3 7A-West) in the seventh with a leadoff double. A Barrett Banister groundout moved courtesy runner Cody Smith to third base. And after a fielding error by Patrick put runners at the corners with one out, Robbie Briggs tied the game at 1-1 on an RBI double.
Quin Rudzinski would then cap the victory for the Bulldogs, scoring Garrett Owens on a single to right field for the win two batters later after Har-Ber had loaded the bases on an intentional walk.
While Patrick got the tough-luck loss despite allowing just one earned run in 6 1/3 innings, Joey Savin was just as strong for Fayetteville. In six innings, the Fayetteville senior lefthander allowed just one run on five hits, with one walk and 13 strikeouts.
Jacob Davenport pitched a scoreless seventh for the Bulldogs and got the victory.
The two teams play again today at 4:30 p.m. at Arvest Ballpark.
Rogers Heritage 12, Fort Smith Northside 10
Trey Kitterman fouled off a pair of bunt attempts, then crushed a 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a game-ending, two-run home run Monday afternoon at Veterans Park.
Dylan Qualls drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the seventh and pinch-runner Alex Newak moved to second on a wild pitch by Northside reliever Ethan Beckham. Kitterman, who was hitless until that at-bat, fouled off a pair of bunt attempts, but ran the count full.
The sophomore then ended the game with the two-run home run.
Heritage (9-14, 3-8 7A-West) took a 10-6 lead with a six-run fifth inning, but Northside rallied and tied it on Max Frazier's two-out, RBI-double in the top of the seventh.
Noah Guill went 4-for-4 and drove in two to lead Heriage, while Qualls finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
Heritage kept its faint state tournament hopes alive and travels to Northside for the second game of the set this afternoon at 4:30.
Sports on 04/26/2016