SPRINGDALE -- Bentonville West's Joey Aden said he got caught guessing at the plate earlier in the game against Springdale Har-Ber starter Blake Adams.
But the Ohio State signee took a different approach in the top of the ninth inning and it paid off to the tune of the go-ahead RBI double as the Wolverines claimed a hard-fought 5-1 6A-West Conference win on Monday evening at Tyson Park.
"Going into that last at-bat, I kinda changed my approach," said Aden, who finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. "Just simplify and thought 'where ever the ball is I'm gonna crush it.' That simple thing helped me a lot."
Aden did just that, hammering a Charlie Acuff 1-0 pitch off the left-field wall to score Hunter Mayes and give West (11-7, 5-2 6A-West) a 2-1 lead. But the Wolverines weren't done.
Maddux Thornton was then hit by a pitch and Zack Trammell hit a three-run home run to push the West lead to 5-1.
That would be more than enough as Carter Bourg retired in the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win and a share of first place in the 6A-West. Bourg pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He struck out five and walked two.
Dylan Carter got the no-decision for West. He allowed a run on three hits over six innings. Carter struck out 11 and walked six.
Bentonville West coach Chip Durham said his team has grown up over the past couple of years and showed toughness to come through with a big win.
"We're seasoned. We're older. The thing that we preach is toughness," Durham said. "When you get down into a game like that, you're not going to win a game like that if you're not tough.
'For me, we grinded it out. We struggled at the plate there some, but I'm just really proud of our kids. I think they showed that tonight. Dylan when he's on, he's tough to hit. Proud of Bourg coming in, he's a strike-thrower."
Thornton went 3-for-4 for the Wolverines, while Trammell added two hits and four RBIs.
West scored a run in the top of the first as Aden walked and scored on Trammell's double. Har-Ber (14-4, 4-3) tied it in the fifth as Mason Wood reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on Hunter Wood's RBI single. The Wildcats, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped, left the bases loaded in the fifth when Kirby Jenkins flied out.
Adams pitched seven innings for Har-Ber, allowing a run on five hits. He struck out 10 and walked five.
Bentonville West 5, Springdale Har-Ber 1 (9)
Bentonville West^100^000^004^--^5^8^1
Springdale Har-Ber^000^010^000^--^1^4^0
Carter (6), Bourg and Trammell; Adams, Acuff (8) and Ross. W-Bourg. L-Acuff. HRs - Trammell, West.
Fayetteville 8, Bentonville High 7 (8)
Jackson Down's one-out double drove in Harrison Wales with the winning run as Fayetteville rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat Bentonville in extra innings at Bulldog Stadium.
The win pulls Fayetteville (11-7, 5-2) into a tie with Bentonville and Bentonville West for first place in the league standings at the midway point.
Wales led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and moved to second on Andrew Walker's sacrifice bunt. Down then belted a shot that carried to the left-field wall, and Wales scored just ahead of the throw.
Bentonville (13-4, 5-2) led 7-2 in the seventh after a Karson Coffee solo home run before Fayetteville made its comeback. Luke Davenport drew a bases-loaded walk, then Beau Stuckey and Sam Turner each belted a two-out single to tie the game.
Stuckey also had a solo home run and finished with three of Fayetteville's 13 hits, while Wales, Down and Turner each had two hits. Keaton Cloyd had three of Bentonville's 11 hits, while Payton Allen had two hits and two RBIs and Coffee added two hits.
Rogers High 5, Springdale High 4
Jay Watson's run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth inning snapped a 4-4 tie and lifted the Mounties to the win.
Rogers (9-7, 5-3 6A-West) clawed back after Springdale took a 4-0 lead in the second inning. The Mounties tied it with a run in the fifth and scored the game-winner in the sixth.
Watson and McKaden Templeton had two hits each, while Watson drove in two runs for Rogers. Brock Pounders drove in two runs for Springdale.
Marc Sussman picked up the complete-game victory. He allwed four runs (none earned) over seven innings, while striking out seven and walking none.
Van Buren 11, Rogers Heritage 0
Jackson Hurst went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs to lead the Pointers to the big win.
Van Buren broke the game open with a seven-run bottom of the fourth inning to take an 11-0 lead.
Grant Shankle added two hits, while Shankle and Seth Humphrey drove in two runs each for Van Buren. Landrey Wilkerson also hit a solo home run.
Trevor Johnson picked up the win, allowing no run on just three hits over five innings. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
Sports on 04/09/2019