VAN BUREN -- Trevor Johnson was dialed in on the mound Monday evening at the Field of Dreams.
Johnson pitched a complete-game shutout to help lead Van Buren to a 2-0 victory against Fayetteville in a key 7A-West Conference baseball matchup.
7A-West baseball standings
Conference Overall
x-Springdale Har-Ber 11-2 26-4
x-Rogers High 10-3 20-6
x-Van Buren 8-3 18-5
x-Bentonville High 7-4 13-9
x-Fayetteville 7-6 16-11-1
x-Bentonville West 5-8 17-10
Springdale High 2-11 10-17
Rogers Heritage 0-13 4-20
x-denotes clinched state tournament berth
Monday’s scores
Van Buren 2, Fayetteville 0
Bentonville 15, Bentonville West 9
Rogers High 8, Springdale High 2
Springdale Har-Ber 15, Rogers Heritage 0 (5)
Today’s games
Van Buren at Fayetteville
Bentonville West at Bentonville
Rogers Heritage vs. Sprngdale Har-Ber
Springdale High at Rogers High
"He has been our workhorse," Van Buren coach David Loyd said. "He has stepped it up a notch this year. He is just a junior, so we know he will get better. We knew he would battle until the end today."
Johnson finished his 108-pitch performance by allowing just three hits while striking out 10.
"It usually doesn't happen because I don't strike a lot of guys out," Johnson said. "But today I had it working. My stuff was pretty good. I hit my spots."
Fayetteville (16-11-1, 7-6 7A-West) had its scoring opportunities in the first, second and sixth innings, but Johnson was able to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. Johnson at one point retired 13 consecutive batters.
"He really mixed his pitches well," Fayetteville coach Scott Gallagher said. "He did a really good job. But we didn't do a very good job battling. We give him a lot of credit because he pitched well."
In the first inning, a one-out double was left stranded with back-to-back strikeouts looking for Fayetteville.
The Bulldogs had a leadoff walk to open the second inning. But the potential rally wasn't helped when Van Buren was able to record an out with a fielder's choice from an outfielder on the next at-bat.
Back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth inning was followed by a strikeout looking that ended that inning.
"We had some opportunities," Gallagher said. "I think we let one pitch make an impact on the next in the at-bats. We didn't hit well when we had runners in scoring position. When Van Buren got them on, they got them in today."
Van Buren leadoff man Landry Wilkerson provided the offense, going 3-for-4 with three doubles, and scored both runs.
Van Buren (18-5, 8-3) opened up the first inning with an extra-base hit from Wilkerson. Evan Jones was able to drive in the run with a ground ball.
Jones again picked up another RBI in the fifth inning after another leadoff double from Wilkerson. Jones drove in the run this time with a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.
The series continues today when Van Buren travels to Fayetteville with both teams battling for a high seed in next week's state tournament.
Fayetteville 000 000 0 -- 0 3 0
Van Buren 100 010 X -- 2 4 0
Johnson and Rouser; Davenport, Trivitt (6) and Tate. W - Johnson, 8-1. L - Davenport, 3-3. HRs-None
Springdale Har-Ber 15, Rogers Heritage 0 (5)
Blaze Brothers went 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Wildcats to the easy run-rule win Monday afternoon.
Brothers, Blake Adams, Hunter Wood and Jake Williams all hit home runs for Har-Ber (26-4, 11-2 7A-West), which banged out 15 hits. Wood drove in four runs, and Adams added three RBIs, while picking up the win. Adams pitched four scoreless innings and allowed two hits. He struck out eight and did not walk a man.
Rogers High 8, Springdale High 2
Sophomore Hayden Seldomridge went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, while McKaden Templeton threw a complete game to lead the Mounties to the 7A-West win.
Rogers (20-6, 10-3 7A-West) led 3-2 after two innings but pulled away late. Jay Watson added two hits and drove in a run.
Seldomridge got the Mounties started with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Templeton scattered eight hits over seven innings to pick up the win. He struck out five and walked three.
Will Mueller went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in both runs for Springdale (10-17, 2-11). Ben Roach and Austin Wages added two hits each.
Bentonville High 15, Bentonville West 9
Tyler Johnson's two-run double gave Bentonville the lead for good, and Sam Golden added a three-run home run as the Tigers defeated West at the Wolverine Athletic Complex.
Johnson's double snapped a 3-3 tie and ignited a five-run third inning to give Bentonville (13-9, 7-4) an 8-3 lead. West (17-10) pulled within a pair of runs on a couple of occasions and trailed 11-9 after six innings, but Golden's blast capped a four-run seventh and gave Bentonville some insurance.
The host Wolverines outhit the Tigers 12-11, including a two-run home run by Zach Trammell that gave West a 3-2 lead, but the Wolverines hurt themselves with seven errors.
Golden had a team-high three RBIs, while Johnson and Ryan Kneeshaw added two hits and drove in two runs apiece. Trammell, Seth Schonauer and Will Jarrett each had two hits for West.
Sports on 05/01/2018