ROGERS -- Bentonville's top three batters combined for seven of the Lady Tigers' 10 hits and drove in six runs Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Park.
That was more than enough for pitcher Cailey Cochran, as the 5-foot-11 junior tossed a two-hitter and struck out 13 to lead Bentonville to a 9-0 win over Rogers High in 7A-West Conference softball.
Bentonville 9, Rogers High 0
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Rogers^000^000^0^—^0^2^2
Cochran and Cornell; Beeman, Sokolsky (4) and W. Storey. W-Cochran. L-Beeman. HRs-Bentonville, Cornell.
"She was very good today," Bentonville coach Kent Early said of Cochran. "She's established herself as the number one. She had a big game against Sheridan a couple weeks ago at UCA. We got in some tough spots and she really battled.
"She's been in some tough spots, a lot of them self-created, but she was on today. She was hitting her spots and threw the ball with good velocity today. I was proud of her and we were able to give her some run support and that just helps give a little more confidence."
Rogers coach Mike Harper said Bentonville was just too much for his team to handle.
"Bentonville was great," Harper said. "We have to play our best to have a chance against teams like that and we didn't. And the result was what it was because they are very good. (Cochran) hit her spots pretty well, pitched well and we didn't compete at the plate very well. Because of that it looks really bad."
Rogers (8-7, 4-1 7A-West) managed just two singles, both by Courtney Storey, and only one runner advanced past first base against Cochran (12-1). She walked two, but had great command all day -- throwing first-pitch strikes to the first 17 batters she faced.
Lead-off hitter Jenna Wildeman set the table, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Lady Tigers (15-2, 5-0). She got the Bentonville offense going in the top of the first with a double, moved to second on a flyout and scored on a Rogers throwing error.
Keelah Griffith added a two-out RBI single for a 2-0 Bentonville lead before Rogers even came to the plate.
Tymber Riley, Mackenzie Vaughn and Griffith had two hits each. Riley scored two runs and drove in two, while Vaughn also drove in two. Haley Cornell hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, her fifth longball of the season.
Sports on 04/05/2018