STATE BASEBALL Springdale Har-ber rolls over Fayetteville

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF Hunter Wood, Springdale Har-Ber shortstop, hits a single in the 4th inning vs Fayetteville Friday, May 10, 2019, during the class 6A state baseball tournament at Veterans Park in Rogers.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF Hunter Wood, Springdale Har-Ber shortstop, hits a single in the 4th inning vs Fayetteville Friday, May 10, 2019, during the class 6A state baseball tournament at Veterans Park in Rogers.

ROGERS -- Springdale Har-Ber right-hander Landon McAllister got just enough support from his teammates nine days ago to defeat Fayetteville.

The Wildcats gave him a lot more than he needed Friday afternoon in their 12-1 run-rule victory over the Purple Bulldogs to advance to the Class 6A state baseball semifinals at Veterans Park.

Har-Ber (24-7) will now take on Cabot (23-5) at 2:30 today in the semifinals. North Little Rock will take on Bentonville West in today's semifinals. Both games will be played simultaneously, beginning at 2:30. North Little Rock and West will play on the north field, while Har-Ber and Cabot will play on the south field.

The Connors State signee acknowledged pitching with a big lead is less stressful. But he also said his team was confident thanks to the earlier victory.

"It's pretty aggravated when I have to keep grinding," said McAllister, who beat Fayetteville 2-1 on May 1. "I love just getting a leading and pitching with a lead. It's great.

"We changed a few things on a couple of guys, but not a lot. It just all worked out."

His teammates obliged with a six-run top of the second against Fayetteville starter Ethan Trivitt and the Wildcats never looked back.

Lead-off man Hunter Wood and Kirby Jenkins drove in two runs each in the big inning, while Clay Burtrum added an RBI-single for a 6-0 lead.

The hit parade continued to the tune of 11 hits over five innings. Arkansas signee Blake Adams punctuated it with a long two-run home run in the top of the fifth.

Wood finished 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Adams, Burtrum and Charlie Acuff added two hits each. Jenkins also drove in three runs.

Har-Ber coach Ron Bradley said his team has come around offensively over the last couple of weeks and changing some routines has really paid off.

"We spent a lot of time hitting the curveball off the machine," Bradley said. "We went away from it, and it's really been bothering us, and the last two weeks it just seems like we're seeing the ball better. We're getting better cuts.

"It just seemed like today every time we needed a big hit, we came through. We had a tendency in the past to leave a lot of runners on. Today we were able to separate ourselves and Landon did a great job. Just a good performance all the way around."

That was plenty for McAllister. He allowed a run on four hits, struck out three and walked three over five innings to get the win.

Jeff Sinacore went 2-for-2 with a solo home run for Fayetteville, the 6A-West co-champions and No. 1 seed.

Har-Ber 060 33 -- 12 11 1

Fayetteville 001 00 -- 1 4 2

McAllister and Kimbel; Trivitt, Gibbs (3), Davenport (4) and Turner. W-McAllister. L-Trivitt. HRs- Har-Ber, Adams, Fayetteville, Sinacore.

Cabot 6, Rogers High 3

The Panthers took advantage of a Rogers miscue to score two runs and snap a 3-3 tie and Cabot pitchers did the rest to advance to the semifinals.

Rogers (17-13) tied the game 3-3 with two runs in the top of the third, but Cabot came right back.

The Mountaineers could have been out of the inning with no runs scoring, but shortstop Sal Jacobo couldn't field a potential inning-ending double play ball. But Zack Slunder gave Cabot the lead with an RBI-bloop single and Kyle Carmack pushed the lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly.

Blayse Quarmstrom added an RBI-single in the fourth for a 6-3 Cabot lead.

Senior left-hander Zack Morris, an Arkansas commit, made that lead stand up with help from two relievers. Morris worked out of a pair of bases-loaded, nobody-out situations in the fourth and fifth innings unscathed.

Morris earned the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits over five innings. He struck out four, but walked six. Brayden Morse and Zach Graham each followed with a scoreless inning to close out the win.

Jackson Olivi went 3-for-4 and scored a run for Cabot, while Slunder and Austin Scritchfield added two hits and an RBI each.

Jay Watson went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, drive in a run and scored twice for Rogers.

North Little Rock 9, Bryant 6 (10 innings)

The third time was the charm as the Charging Wildcats claimed a 10-inning win and advanced to the semifinals.

North Little Rock (13-18) grabbed an early lead and survived a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the bottom of the seventh inning to finally beat Bryant (27-5) after two previous losses in 6A-Central Conference play.

Alex Cauley's two-run bloop single in the top of the 10th inning provided the cushion the Charging Wildcats needed. Prior to Cauley's single, North Little Rock scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

Bryant trailed 2-0 and 4-2 before rallying to tie the game at 6-6 in the seventh inning on Cade Drennan's RBI double down the left-field line. The Hornets loaded the bases with no outs, but North Little Rock reliever Cole Kimrey worked out of the jam with two infield pop-ups and a strikeout to end the inning.

Cauley was 3-for-6 with three RBIs for North Little Rock

Logan Grant and Drennan were each 2-for-4 with a double each.

Bentonville West 7, Bentonville High 4

The Wolverines scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to advance to today's semifinals.

West (20-10) led 2-0 on a home run from catcher Zach Trammell before Bentonville (16-13) scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Levi Bennett's two-run single highlighted the inning for the Tigers.

West had the answer in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on an error and adding two more on a sacrifice fly and Trammell's RBI single.

Trammel was 2-for-4 for West with three RBIs. Will Jarrett was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and John McElroy was 2-for-3.

Bennett was 2-for-4 for Bentonville.

Hunter Mayes earned the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings and allowing just two hits with two strikeouts. Payton Allen took the loss for Bentonville in relief of starter Devin Hearn.

CLASS 4A

Shiloh Christian 9, Batesville 2

Kellen Pate pitched a one-hitter to lead the Saints to a second-round won Friday.

Pate threw 95 pitches and struck out six in the complete-game win.

Walker Williams blasted a grand slam for Shiloh Christian in a nine-run fifth inning. Sean Rhodes drove in two runs, and Cole Oswald was 2-for-3 for the Saints.

VALLEY VIEW 4, HARRISON 3

The Valley View Blazers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to edge the Harrison Goblins on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Goblins took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by Dylan Block and a two-run home run by Carson Journagan. Valley View scored one in the bottom of the second and two more in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score at 3-3. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Austin Shipman walked. He scored with two outs on a single by Connor Watson to win the game for the Blazers.

CLASS 3A

Thursday

Booneville 6, Elkins 5

The No. 4 seed Bearcats earned a first-round win over the No. 1 seed Elks on Thursday.

Booneville pounded 11 hits and took advantage of five Elkins errors to claim the win.

Carson Ray and Randon Ray both went 3-for-4, and Michael Hesson drove in two runs for Booneville.

Trey Vance and Will Trollinger had two hits each for Elkins.

CLASS 2A

Woodlawn 12, Lavaca 5

The Golden Arrows held their own for five innings in a 3-3 tie before Woodlawn blew the game open with nine runs in the final two innings.

Nick Ward was 3-for-4 with a double and five RBIs for Woodlawn.

Jayger Wagner was 2-for-3 with a double for Lavaca and Trevon Moore was 2-for-2.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF

Springdale Har-Ber celebrates after defeating Fayetteville on Friday in the Class 6A state baseball tournament at Veterans Park in Rogers. The Wildcats face Cabot in the semifinals today.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF

Landon McAllister allowed 1 run on 4 hits, struck out 3 and walked 3 over 5 innings to pitch Springdale Har-Ber past Fayetteville 12-1 on Friday during the Class 6A state baseball tournament in Rogers.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Springdale Har-Ber players celebrate Friday after defeating Fayetteville 12-1 in five innings at Veterans Park in Rogers.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Clay Burtrum, Springdale Har-Ber right fielder, hits a single in the second inning against Fayetteville on Friday during the Class 6A state baseball tournament at Veterans Park in Rogers.

Sports on 05/11/2019

Upcoming Events