Baseball: Springdale falls 1-0 in 8 innings

Rogers Jay Young, left, bobbles an infield hit Thursday as Cabot's Caleb Harpole leaves second on his way to third in the fifth inning of their 7A state baseball tournament game at Burns Park in North Little Rock. Young would gain control of the ball and throw Harpole out at third base.
Rogers Jay Young, left, bobbles an infield hit Thursday as Cabot's Caleb Harpole leaves second on his way to third in the fifth inning of their 7A state baseball tournament game at Burns Park in North Little Rock. Young would gain control of the ball and throw Harpole out at third base.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- There's no arguing Springdale High accounted itself very well in its first Class 7A state baseball tournament appearance in 10 years, but the Red Bulldogs came up short 1-0 in eight innings to Conway on Thursday evening at Burns Park.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Sage White (left) of Rogers dives for a ball hit to the outfield as Cabot’s Braden Jarnigan moves between second and third base on his way to score in Thursday’s fifth inning of the Mountaineers’ 4-0 loss to the Panthers in the Class 7A baseball tournament at Burns Park in North Little Rock.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Cabot’s Chase Kyzer pitches Thursday against Rogers High.

Conway cleanup hitter Cade Tucker's infield pop-up fell when Springdale second baseman Carson Johnson stumbled and fell, allowing Brayden Leach to score from third for the game's only run.

Conway 1, Springdale High 0

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A. Roach and B. Roach; Strickland, Cahill (8) and Stroth. W-Cahill. L-A. Roach.

It was a crushing way for such a well-played game to end as Springdale starting pitcher Andrew Roach and Conway starter Matt Strickland matched zeroes for seven innings.

But Leach's double just inside the third-base bag leading off the bottom of the eighth gave Conway (21-5) a scoring chance. He moved to third on McCall Dail's groundout to first and Springdale coach Shohn Doty elected to intentionally walk the next two hitters to load the bases.

Roach appeared to get just what he was looking for as Tucker skied an infield pop-up, but Johnson lost his footing backpedaling and the ball fell. The runner scored from third just ahead of Johnson's throw to the plate.

Doty spent several minutes with his team down the right field line, then remained even longer to talk to the seniors. He was proud of the way his team battled.

"It's baseball and God bless our kids," Doty said. "For us to be on this stage for the first time in 10 years and I thought we accorded ourselves with a lot of class and played our rear ends off. I just credit this senior class. We just persevered all year long.

"We won 20 games. We got to the state tournament. I told them today this senior class has left a building block for guys to come and I believe that. We're on the right path."

Springdale (20-11) managed just three hits and got a runner past second base just once. Johnson gave the Red'Dogs a shot in the third as he was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on Roach's groundout. But Johnson was thrown out to end the inning trying to score on a wild pitch.

Roach, a junior, allowed just six hits over seven-plus innings. He struck out 10 and walked three -- two intentionally.

Collin Cahill, an Arkansas State signee, picked up the win with one scoreless inning of relief. He came on after Strickland walked the lead-off man to start the eighth.

Cabot 4, Rogers High 0

Senior Chase Kyzer tossed a seven-hitter to lead the Panthers to the shutout victory.

Cabot (19-9), the No. 3 seed out of the East, advanced to take on Bryant, the No. 1 seed from the Central, today at 10 a.m.

The Panthers scored all they would need in the top of the first, pushing across two runs on four hits. Eric Larsen gave Cabot the lead with a run-scoring single and Braden Jarnagan followed with a safety squeeze bunt single.

Cabot added singles tallies in the second and fifth against Rogers freshman McKayden Templeton (4-2). The Panthers scored in the second on another safety squeeze.

That was all Kyzer needed as the right-hander worked out of trouble on multiple occasions. He struck out four, did not walk a man, but did hit one batter.

The Mounties loaded the bases with two outs in the third and got three hits in the fifth, but couldn't score in either case.

Grayson Lee went 3 for 4, while Max Horton went 2 for 3 to lead Rogers. Eight of nine Cabot players had at least one hit.

Little Rock Catholic 14, Fayetteville 7

The Rockets scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back, eliminating the Purple Bulldogs in a game that last almost three hours.

Left-hander Dylan Thompson picked up the win for Catholic (21-6). The Arkansas signee went five-plus innings, allowing five runs on six hits.

Eight of nine Rockets in the lineup managed at least one hit as Catholic banged out 14 hits. Designated hitter Lance Harville-Thomas led the way, going 3 for 5 with four RBIs.

Braden Jordan led Fayetteville (17-15), going 3 for 4 with an RBI, while Robbie Briggs added two hits and drove in three.

Little Rock Central 6, Fort Smith Southside 1

Joey Abraham scattered five hits in a complete-game effort to lead the Tigers into the quarterfinals.

The senior allowed a run on five hits, while striking out four and walking four. The lone blemish was Mac Moody's solo home run in the sixth inning.

Central (16-16) scored four runs in the top of the first inning against Southside starter Hunter Pogue on three hits.

Moody went 2 for 3, accounting for two of Southside's five hits as the Rebels finished 14-14.

CLASS 6A

Lake Hamilton 6, Siloam Springs 4 (8)

Siloam Springs scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie up Thursday's opening round game against Sheridan. But the Wolves scored two in the top of the eighth to retake the lead and they eliminated the Panthers.

Kyle Comiskey's two-out single scored Dodge Pruitt in the seventh to tie the game 4-4.

Siloam Springs (12-16) led 3-0 early in the game but Lake Hamilton scored four runs in the fourth off Zac Bolstad. The Wolves carried the 4-3 lead into the seventh.

Chandler Cook, who relieved Bolstad in the sixth, took the loss for the Panthers with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning.

CLASS 5A

Sylvan Hills 8, Farmington 4

Junior right-hander Tyler Gregg allowed four earned runs in six innings, but mistakes by the Cardinals (19-9) helped the Bears (26-5) rally from behind for the win.

"We pitched well enough to win and we thought we had it in control until the fifth," said Farmington coach Jay Harper. "But we made a couple of mistakes that really hurt us and against a No. 1 seed, you can't make those mistakes and expect to win."

Farmington built a 4-2 lead heading into the fifth inning with Caleb Reagan and Kelton Price both coming up with key hits to drive in runs. Gregg also had two hits to help his own cause.

Sports on 05/13/2016

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