Baseball Rogers High edges Springdale Har-Ber 1-0

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Springdale Har-Ber's Mac McCroskey can't keep a hold of the ball while Rogers' Brandon Husted slides to second base Monday March 12, 2018 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. Rogers beat the Wildcats 1-0.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Springdale Har-Ber's Mac McCroskey can't keep a hold of the ball while Rogers' Brandon Husted slides to second base Monday March 12, 2018 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. Rogers beat the Wildcats 1-0.

SPRINGDALE -- Colin McWhorter's two-out bloop single drove in the lone run of the game, and Matthew Watson sewed up Rogers High's 1-0 win over Springdale Har-Ber in the 7A-West Conference opener for both teams Monday at Arvest Ballpark.

Watson, a sophomore right-hander, got the first two hitters in the bottom of the seventh, then ran into trouble. Pinch-hitter J.D. Scott singled, and Blaze Brothers came up with a double on a ball that was misplayed over the right fielder's head.

7A-West Baseball

Rogers High 1, Springdale Har-Ber 0

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Templeton, Watson (6) and Seldomridge; Adams, Benson (5) and Brown. W-Templeton, 2-1. L-Adams, 0-1. Sv-Watspn. HRs-None.

However, Watson left runners at second and third by getting Mac McCroskey to groundout to end the game and tag Har-Ber (5-1, 0-1 7A-West) with its first loss of the season.

McWhorter, a senior who moved from catcher to the outfield this year, got down 0-2 to hard-throwing Blake Adams in the bottom of the fifth inning. But he persevered and made contact with a fastball, guiding it over the second baseman's head and into right field.

Brandon Husted, who drew a one-out walk and stole second, scored the game's only run on the play. McWhorter swung through a fastball on the first pitch, then looked at a curve for strike two. But he was ready for the next fastball.

"He threw me a fastball, and I was sitting fastball," McWhorter said. "I threw my hands at the baseball and put it right through first and second."

Rogers coach Matt Melson was pleased with his team's mettle throughout the game and composure late as the Mounties improved to 4-1.

"I was proud our kids found a way to win," Melson said. "Our kids fought tooth and nail. McKaden (Templeton), he's just a fighter, a grinder out there. Their kid was a tough ask for our guys who have basically just played three ballgames. Colin came up with a hit.

"Matthew didn't have his best stuff on the back end, but he grinded and did what we had to do to win. But it was the first time he's really closed in a big spot. It was huge."

Both teams finished with three hits apiece. Templeton picked up the win with 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit, struck out eight and walked four. Watson gave up two hits in 1 2/3 innings, struck out two and walked one for the save.

Adams, an Arkansas commit, took the hard-luck loss. He a run on two hits in 4 2/3 innings. Adams struck out 10 and walked two.

Har-Ber coach Ron Bradley said his team couldn't come up with a key hit.

"I thought both pitchers did a great job," Bradley said. "They got a dad-gum seeing-eye hit with two outs and two strikes. They capitalized on an opportunity. I think we left a runner at second base four out of the seven innings. We just weren't able to get a hit with somebody in scoring position. You've got to give them credit."

The two teams meet again today at 5 p.m. at Veterans Park.

Bentonville High 5, Fayetteville 4

Two Fayetteville errors allowed Payton Allen to circle the bases and score the winning run as Bentonville (4-1, 1-0) took the 7A-West Conference opener for both teams at the Tiger Athletic Complex.

Allen led off the seventh inning with a hard grounder that was misplayed, then he rounded second and headed for third as Kam'Ron Mays-Hunt laid down a sacrifice fly. The throw to third was wild and went into foul territory, allowing Allen to score.

Mays-Hunt picked up the win after he walked four Bulldog batters and allowed Fayetteville (4-3-1, 0-1) to score the tying run in the top of the seventh.

The two teams return to action today at Fayetteville.

Springdale High 10, Rogers Heritage 0

Tanner Sargent pitched a no-hitter and struck out nine as the Bulldogs opened 7A-West play on Monday at Tyson Park.

Sargent needed just 62 pitches over five innings to earn the win and did not walk a batter.

Christopher Harvey was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs for Springdale (6-2, 1-0), and Sabino Nino was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Sargent also had two RBIs.

Heritage (1-6, 0-1) will host Springdale at 5 p.m. today at Veterans Park.

Van Buren 4, Bentonville West 3

Ethan Rauser's two-run single put Van Buren ahead to stay as the Pointers held off West and claimed a victory in Van Buren.

Van Buren (5-1, 1-0) did all of its scoring in the third inning, starting with Rauser's hit. A West throwing error allowed the Pointers' third run to score, then Bryson Patrick added an RBI single.

West (5-1, 0-1) led 1-0 after a Joey Aden home run in the first, but the Wolverines didn't get any more offense going until the sixth. Will Jarrett and Aden had back-to-back singles, then Jarrett scored on an error before Aden scored on Roger Alexander's bloop single.

Trevor Johnson pitched six innings and was the winning pitcher while Evan Jones recorded the save. Dylan Carter pitched 2 2/3 innings and took the loss for West.

Sports on 03/13/2018

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