SPRINGDALE -- Senior Day turned into a bad day for Springdale Har-Ber.
Van Buren grabbed an early five-run lead and defeated the Wildcats 8-2 on Monday in 7A-West Conference action at Arvest Ballpark. The loss dropped Har-Ber (22-4, 9-2) into a first-place tie with Rogers, which beat Bentonville West 7-0 on Monday.
7A-West baseball standings
CONF. Overall
Springdale Har-Ber 9-2 22-4
Rogers High 9-2 19-5
Van Buren 7-2 17-4
Fayetteville 6-5 13-9-1
Bentonville High 5-4 11-9
Bentonville West 4-7 15-9
Springdale High 2-9 10-15
Rogers Heritage 0-11 4-18
Monday’s Games
Van Buren 8, Springdale Har-Ber 2
Rogers High 7, Bentonville West 0
Bentonville 12, Rogers Heritage 3
Fayetteville 3, Springdale High 2
Today’s Games
Springdale Har-Ber at Van Buren
Rogers High at Bentonville West
Rogers Heritage at Bentonville High
Fayetteville vs. Springdale High at Tyson Complex
Evan Jones and Dakota Peters each had three hits to lead Van Buren (17-4, 7-2), which outhit the Wildcats 12-7. Trevor Johnson pitched 6 2/3 innings to earn the victory over Blake Adams, who was relieved in the seventh by Treshon Pascal.
"We had some good at-bats and got a little bit of confidence at the plate," Van Buren coach David Loyd said. "Trevor threw great for us, and we played well behind him."
Van Buren battered Adams for three runs on five hits in the second inning. The Pointers sent nine batters to the plate and were helped by an error that kept the rally going.
Van Buren increased its lead to 5-0 in the third inning after a double by Johnson and a three-base throwing error that allowed a run to score. Jones reached on an infield single and scored after a throw by Jake Williams on an attempted force play at second base rolled nearly to the fence in center field.
Har-Ber loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning but managed only one run against Johnson, a junior right-hander. Blaze Brothers brought home a run with a sacrifice fly after three consecutive singles by the Wildcats to start the inning. But Johnson limited the damage when he struck out Mac McCoskey and got Adams on a long fly ball to left fielder Seth Humphrey, who made a running catch.
Bryce Watters also started two double plays after fielding hard-hit grounders at third base for the Pointers.
"Seth Humphrey went back and caught that ball I thought had a chance to get out of the park when (Adams) hit it," Loyd said. "The kids made big plays, and I'm very proud of them."
The Pointers added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to take an 8-1 lead. Har-Ber will try to even the series when the teams meet at Van Buren today.
Van Buren 032 001 2 -- 8 12 2
Springdale Har-Ber 000 010 1 -- 2 7 2
Johnson, Jones and Rauser. Adams, Paschal and Brown. W -- Johnson. L -- Adams. HRs -- None.
Rogers High 7, Bentonville West 0
McKaden Templeton tossed a two-hitter, while Matthew Watson hit a three-run home run to lead the Mounties to a 7A-West win Monday at Veterans Park.
Templeton allowed only two singles over seven innings. He struck out six and walked two, but also hit four. Watson went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs with the three-run homer and RBI triple. Sal Jacobo also added two hits and drove in a run for Rogers (19-5, 9-2 7A-West).
Bentonville High 12, Rogers Heritage 3
Payton Allen had three hits and drove in three runs to lead Bentonville past Heritage at Veterans Park.
Sam Golden added two hits and drove in two runs for the Tigers (11-9, 5-4), who used Keegan Allen's RBI single and Payton Allen's two-run single to help build a 4-0 lead in the second. Bentonville blew the game open with six runs in the fifth, highlighted by Golden's two-run double and an RBI double by Levi Bennett.
Austin Gottula allowed one run on three hits over four innings and recorded the victory. Montana Keenan belted a two-run home run in the fifth, while Dylan Qualls went 3-for-4 and scored a run for Heritage (4-18, 0-11).
Fayetteville 3, Springdale High 2
Jackson Down drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the winning run as the Bulldogs edged Springdale High on Monday.
With the score tied at 2-2, Fayetteville's Mason Shaw opened the bottom of the seventh inning with a single. Emory Kincaid tried to sacrifice Shaw to second and instead reached on a bunt single, and Shaw advanced to third base with Kincaid moving to second. After Miller Pleimann was intentionally walked to load the bases, Down was walked to force in the game-winner.
Pitching was at a premium as Pleimann allowed just four hits and struck out six to earn the win. Three Springdale pitchers combined to allow six hits.
Kincaid was 2-for-4 with a double, and Weston Tate was 2-for-2 for Fayetteville (13-9-1, 6-5 7A-West).
Sabino Nino had a two-run double for Springdale (10-15, 2-9).
The two teams will play again today at Tyson Park.
Rick Fires can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWARick.
Sports on 04/24/2018