BENTONVILLE -- The sight of a player getting her helmet slapped by teammates at home plate has become coming during Bentonville High's softball games.
The routine is the sign of a Lady Tiger hitting another home run -- something that has happened 27 times this season. Morgan Nelson received the most recent celebratory slaps when her two-run home run ended Tuesday's game as Bentonville claimed a 12-1 victory over Van Buren at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
BENTONVILLE HIGH 12, VAN BUREN 1
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McMillan and Parga; Cochran and Cornell. W-Cochran, 15-1. L-McMillan. HR-Bentonville, Nelson (2).
"It always good to end the game with a walkoff," said Bentonville coach Kent Early, whose team extended its conference win streak to 18 games. "It's good to have that kind of ending to a game, and I thought our girls played pretty well for most of the game."
Bentonville (20-2, 9-0) was already in control before Nelson belted her home run, her second of the season, after McKenzie Vaughan led off the sixth inning with a walk. Haley Cornell just missed a home run in the first when her sacrifice fly to the right-field fence easily scored Jenna Wildeman from third, then the Lady Tigers scored five in the second -- all of them coming after two were out.
After a Van Buren error kept the inning alive and let Megan Crownover score from second, Wildeman belted a two-run triple off the left-field fence, then Tymber Riley added an RBI double and scored on Cornell's single. Bentonville then scored two runs in each of its last three innings to eventually force a run-rule.
"We had that big two-out rally in the second, then we came in and bailed her out in the third," Early said. "She had a seven-pitch inning, and we became too relaxed at the plate. We had to regroup and focus, but the key point was Riley Hayes in the nine-hole. She had three hits and kept turning the lineup over. That's what you want to have."
Wildeman also had three hits in Bentonville's 13-hit attack, while Cornell, Nelson and Crownover had two hits. Cailey Cochran (15-1) allowed one run on three hits and two walks while picking up 10 strikeouts.
Rogers High 6, Rogers Heritage 4
Madison Heinle pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief and added a two-run double to help the Lady Mounties hold off their crosstown rivals in 7A-West Conference softball Tuesday at Veterans Park.
Rogers (13-7, 7-1 7A-West) led 6-1 going to the bottom of the fourth inning, but Heritage (11-6, 4-4) scored three times and knocked out Rogers starter Sadie Beeman. However, Heinle came on and allowed just two hits the rest of the way.
Jadyn Heinle, Journee Zito and Courtney Storey had two hits each for Rogers, while Whitney Storey also added two RBIs. Alexa Enos led Heritage with two hits and an RBI, while Lora Brown also drove in two runs.
Bentonville West 17, Fayetteville 0
Brittany Crowson threw a no-hitter over four innings, and Endya Moler belted a three-run homer to lead West to a victory over host Fayetteville.
Crowson threw 66 pitches, 44 for strikes, and struck out eight batters. Her only blemishes were a pair of walks.
The Lady Wolverines (17-6, 7-2) already 3-0 after one inning when Moler hit her home run as part of a five-run second inning. Ryen Rassi added a two-run single to make it 10-0 in the third before West exploded for seven runs in the fourth, including a two-run single by Honesty Holt and RBI doubles by Hallie Wacaser and Moler.
Wacaser and Holt each had three hits to pace the Lady Wolverines' 16-hit attack.
Springdale High 4, Springdale Har-Ber 3
The Lady Bulldogs scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie, then held on at the end to edge crosstown rival Har-Ber on Tuesday at J.B. Hunt Park.
It was Springdale's first win over Har-Ber since 2011.
With one out in the fifth, Braden Meredith reached on a Har-Ber error. After a strikeout, the Lady Bullodgs put together a walk and three straight singles by Maycee Trolinger, Breana Hornback and Alexis Samarin, the last driving in two runs for a 4-0 lead.
Har-Ber struck back in the bottom of the seventh as Jacey Ewert reached on an error and Emily Bartlett and Carly Day singled with Day driving in Ewert. Bartlett scored on a fielder's choice to cut the deficit to 4-2 and another Springdale error plated another Har-Ber run to make it 4-3. But Springdale locked down the win with a pair of groundouts.
Meredith earned the win, allowing just four hits and Shelby Swaffar took the loss despite seven strikeouts.
Preps Basketball on 04/18/2018