Baseball: Coffee keeps destiny in Bentonville's hands

BENTONVILLE -- Two missed signs by Karson Coffee turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Bentonville High's baseball team.

The junior outfielder belted a game-tying triple, then scored the game-winning run on an errant throw Tuesday and gave the Tigers a 4-3 victory over Bentonville West during 7A-West Conference action at the Tiger Athletic Complex.

BENTONVILLE HIGH 4, BENTONVILLE WEST 3

West^010^020^0^--^3^6^2

Bentonville^001^102^X^--^4^8^3

7A-West Baseball Standings

Conference^Overall

1-Springdale Har-Ber^12-2^27-4

2Rogers High^11-3^21-6

x-Van Buren^9-3^19-5

x-Bentonville High^8-4^14-9

5-Fayetteville^7-7^16-12-1

6-Bentonville West^5-9^17-11

Springdale High^2-12^10-18

Rogers Heritage^0-14^4-21

x-denotes clinched state tournament berth

Monday’s Games

Van Buren 2, Fayetteville 0

Bentonville 15, Bentonville West 9

Rogers High 8, Springdale High 2

Springdale Har-Ber 15, Rogers Heritage 0 (5)

Tuesday’s Games

Van Buren 4, Fayetteville 0

Bentonville 4, Bentonville West 3

Springdale Har-Ber 12, Rogers Heritage 1 (5)

Rogers High 9, Springdale 0

The win, coupled with Van Buren's victory over Fayetteville, means Bentonville (14-9, 8-4) can finish no worse as the No. 4 seed going into next week's Class 7A state tournament in North Little Rock. The Tigers will climb to the third seed if they sweep Saturday's makeup doubleheader at Van Buren.

"That's where you want to be. You want to control where you're going," Bentonville coach Todd Abbott said. "I'm really proud of these kids. That was a really good game.

"We still have two games left to play, but we're sitting in a good position."

That position was in doubt when West (17-11, 5-9) took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Joey Aden's two-run home run to left field in the fifth. Brooks McDowell then led off the Bentonville sixth with a single, and courtesy runner Andrew Nagelson was still there when Coffee -- who earned a start after a good outing in Monday's junior varsity game -- came to the plate.

Coffee, who had missed almost a month of action because of an illness, missed on two bunt attempts to move the runner over, then he connected with a drive to the center-field fence that Aden leaped for and barely missed. That allowed Nagelson to score, then the throw to third sailed over Will Jarrett's head and allowed Coffee to score.

"I missed the two bunts because I had the signs mixed up," Coffee said. "I thought he was calling a suicide squeeze. I looked at the runner on first and thought that didn't make any sense, so I didn't do it.

"Then he gave me the hit-and-run sign, and that's when I hit it. It felt really good. I was watching Will's eyes as I was going to third, and when I saw him look over his head, I knew I could go home."

Bentonville starter Austin Garrett went the distance and finished with a six-hitter, and he made that lead stand despite a leadoff double to Maddox Thornton in the seventh. Kender Carroll pitched a complete game for West, which had already locked the No. 6 seed for the state tournament before Tuesday's game.

Carroll and Carter; Garrett and Golden. W-Garrett. L-Carroll. Sv-None. HR-West, Aden.

Springdale Har-Ber 12, Rogers Heritage 1

Blake Adams went 2-for-3 with a home run and drove in three runs to lead the Wildcats to the run-rule victory.

Mac McCroskey also went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Jake Williams, J.D. Scott and Kirby Jenkins added two hits each for Har-Ber (27-4, 12-2 7A-West.

Blake Benson picked up the win, allowing a run on two hits over four innings. He struck out nine and walked two.

Ryan Carlson drove in Heritage's lone run.

Rogers High 9, Springdale High 0

Mason Griffin tossed a four-hitter as the Mounties wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the 7A-West and a first-round bye in next week's state tournament.

Colin McWhorter went 2-for-3, drove in two runs and scored once as Rogers (21-6, 11-3 7A-West) banged out 10 hits. Sal Jacobo also drove in two runs, while Hayden Seldomridge also added two hits.

Griffin struck out five and walked two over seven innings to picked up the complete-game victory.

Van Buren 4, Fayetteville 0

Evan Jones finished 14 consecutive shutout innings by Pointers pitchers by allowing just four hits in Van Buren's win Tuesday.

Jones allowed just three hits, struck out three and walked two over seven innings. It was the second straight day that Van Buren pitchers shut out Fayetteville (16-12-1, 7-7 7A-West). Trevor Johnson, who tossed the shutout on Monday, drove in two runs for the Pointers (18-5, 9-3 7A-West).

Preps Basketball on 05/02/2018

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