FAYETTEVILLE -- Scott Gallagher called off the 'Dogs early in Fayetteville's 11-0 win against Rogers Heritage at Bulldogs Stadium on Tuesday.
It was the second five-inning, mercy-rule victory in as many days as the Purple'Dogs won 18-0 at Rogers Heritage on Monday. Gallagher, the Fayetteville coach, began substituting pinch-hitters in the third inning after his team spotted itself a 9-0 lead by batting around twice in the first two innings.
Fayetteville 11, Rogers Heritage 0
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Fayetteville^452^0^-^11^9^0
Rogers Heritage’s battery Doherty, Judd (2) and Gates; Fayetteville’s battery Cox and Blagg. W - Cox, 4-0. L - Doherty. Sv - none. HRs - Fayetteville, Southerland, Shaw.
Breezing to back-to-back wins was more than welcome after Gallagher watched his team battle to the final at-bat throughout most of the season.
"It's been nice to relax a little bit by the fifth inning or so," Gallagher said. "We've played a lot of tight games. We haven't had a lot of run-rules this year, so getting after people with the guys playing well and the guys we've put in playing well is really encouraging."
Fayetteville (12-11, 7-1 7A-West) won its seventh straight in conference play after opening the league with a 5-0 loss against Bentonville. The Purple'Dogs are all alone atop the 7A-West standings because Rogers High knocked off Van Buren on Tuesday.
"It does feel good, but we've got a tough road ahead," Gallagher said. "They've been really focused the past three weeks or so. They're coming to the ballpark really ready to go every single week."
Senior right-hander Hayes Cox, an Arkansas Tech signee, tossed a one-hit shutout. He induced five ground outs and a fly out to go along with six strikeouts. He even struck out the side in order in the second inning.
"Hayes did what Hayes does," Gallagher said. "He's so efficient and he struck out more than he usually does. He's usually a ground-ball guy."
Fayetteville catcher Alex Blagg said Cox's off-speed pitches made the difference. Cox threw 59 pitches, including 44 for strikes.
"He was throwing his curve ball for a strikes and his change up was looking good with a lot of movement on it," Blagg said. "The location of the curve ball and change up was really working for him."
With Heritage (5-14, 2-6) starting pitcher and Wichita State pledge Logan Easley sidelined with an injury, Fayetteville jumped on the War Eagles for four runs in the first inning after Jackson Sloan led off with a single up the middle. Grant Southerland, Jeff Sinacore, Blagg and Greydon Turner each drove in a run.
In the second, Cox began a five-run inning with a double to right center. Two batters later, Southerland launched a towering three-run homer and Blagg capped it off with an RBI single.
In the third inning, a two-run home run by pinch-hitter Mason Shaw rounded out the Purple'Dogs' offense.
Rogers High 5, Van Buren 1
Senior Mason Mitchell allowed just one unearned run over six innings and the Mounties gave him the support he needed to earn the 7A-West Conference win.
The Mounties (7-10, 2-6 7A-West), who lost on Monday in extra innings to the Pointers, jumped in front with single runs in the third and fourth and never looked back. Grayson Lee went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, drove in a run and scored one.
Max Horton and Tim Howard also each went 2-for-2 and drove in a run for Rogers. Mitchell allowed one unearned run on six hits over six innings. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter. Freshman Matthew Watson pitched a scoreless seventh, getting a strikeout for the final out with the bases loaded.
Bentonville High 11, Springdale High 10
Bentonville scored six unanswered runs over the last three innings, then held off Springdale to complete a sweep of the Red'Dogs.
The Tigers (10-8, 6-2) trailed 7-5 after four innings but tied the game when Destyn Adkins' ground ball drove in Shoemaker, then a passed ball allowed Bryce Davis to score. Bentonville then took the lead for good on Kyle Knight's two-run double in the sixth, then added two more on a Springdale error in the seventh.
The Red'Dogs (11-10, 3-5) responded with Ben Roach's three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh before Ryan Kneeshaw picked up a strikeout to end the game.
Springdale Har-Ber 11, Bentonville West 3
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead and cruised past West on the road.
Blake Adams went five innings to earn the win, allowing just six hits with eight strikeouts. Caleb Kimbel was 2-for-2 with a double, triple and three RBIs for Har-Ber (11-6, 5-2). Mac McCroskey was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Kendall Thornton took the loss for West (8-9, 0-7), going four innings and allowing seven hits with two strikeouts. Jacob Gloeckler was 2-for-3 for the Wolverines.
The two teams will wrap up the 7A-West series on Thursday at Tyson Park.
OTHER GAMES
Farmington 11, Lincoln 3
The Cardinals jumped out to a 10-0 lead and cruised past Lincoln on Tuesday. Farmington bashed 13 hits in the win, led by Ryan Larkin, who was 4-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. Blake Putnam had a double and two triples and three RBIs. Eric Hill also had two hits. Drake Vineyard earned the win, allowing two hits. Caleb Lloyd had an RBI single for Lincoln.
Shiloh Christian 12, Gravette 1
The Saints kept their conference slate clean with a run-rule win Monday. Connor Clark was 4-for-5 with two RBIs for Shiloh Christian. Michael Connolly, Jake Nelson, Sawyer Duddleston and Amos Yarbrough all had multiple hits. Landon Brown earned the win, going 4 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and allowed just two hits. Brodie Parsons took the loss for Gravette. Kilby Roberts was 2-for-3 for the Lions.
Sports on 04/12/2017