The defending state champion Wildcats are warming up just like the weather in Northwest Arkansas.
Springdale Har-Ber (14-3, 4-2 6A-West) dropped its first two 6A-West Conference games to Bentonville High but have reeled off eight consecutive wins since then. Har-Ber coach Ron Bradley said everyone's offense has struggled early in the season.
Prep Baseball Standings
6A-West
^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Bentonville High^5-1^12-4
Fayetteville^4-2^10-6
Bentonville West^4-2^9-7
Springdale Har-Ber^4-2^14-3
Rogers High^3-3^7-7
Rogers Heritage^2-4^5-10
Springdale High^1-5^6-11
Van Buren^1-5^8-8
6A-Central
^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Bryant^4-0^18-2
Conway^3-2^7-5
LR Catholic^3-2^7-6
LR Central^2-2^8-7
Cabot^2-3^12-4
FS Southside^2-3^7-9
FS Northside^1-3^2-13
North Little Rock^1-3^6-8
Monday’s games
Rogers Heritage 4, Bentonville 3
Bentonville West 2, Rogers High 0
Springdale Har-Ber 4, Springdale High 3
Fayetteville 7, Van Buren 5
Tuesday’s games
Bentonville High 19, Rogers Heritage 3 (5)
Rogers High 13, Bentonville West 4
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Springdale High 2
Van Buren 10, Fayetteville 3
Bryant 5, Cabot 4
NLR 13, Fort Smith Northside 2
LR Central 5, Conway 1
Little Rock Catholic 4, Fort Smith Southside 3
Wednesday’s Game
Conway 4, Little Rock Catholic 3
Friday’s Games
LR Central at Fort Smith Southside
Bryant at NLR
Fort Smith Northside at Cabot
BASEBALL STATISTICAL LEADERS
BATTING
(through Tuesday, April 2)
MINIMUM 14 AT-BATS
PLAYER, SCHOOL^AVG^AB^R^H^RBI^2B^3B^HR^BB^SB^SLUG
Vance, Elkins^0.579^19^3^11^11^5^0^1^1^4^1.000
Watkins, Huntsville^0.571^21^9^12^6^2^1^0^6^0^0.762
Thornton, Bentonville West^0.500^16^5^8^5^1^0^0^1^4^0.563
Harderson, West Fork^0.500^18^5^9^2^1^1^0^3^5^0.667
Cole, Gravette^0.491^55^16^27^18^7^1^1^8^4^0.709
Buchanan, Huntsville^0.483^29^7^14^11^6^0^0^3^3^0.690
Garrett, Huntsville^0.481^27^4^13^7^4^0^0^3^1^0.630
McCone, Huntsville^0.478^23^11^11^7^4^0^0^6^12^0.652
Knight, Cedarville^0.478^23^4^11^0^2^2^0^2^0^0.739
Vanover, Huntsville^0.476^21^7^10^7^2^1^2^10^1^0.952
Martines, Paris^0.474^19^2^9^2^0^0^0^1^6^0.474
Brown, Shiloh Christian^0.471^51^21^24^17^11^1^3^7^2^0.902
Cobb, Booneville^0.459^37^8^17^8^6^0^0^6^4^0.622
Williams, Shiloh Christian^0.453^53^7^24^10^4^0^0^2^1^0.528
Sagely, Greenwood^0.451^51^16^23^11^7^5^0^6^5^0.784
Wood, Springdale Har-Ber^0.442^52^14^23^17^6^0^1^3^13^0.615
Jarrett, Bentonville West^0.429^14^8^6^1^2^0^0^4^3^0.571
James, Lamar^0.429^28^9^12^11^0^1^2^6^8^0.714
Ray, Booneville^0.422^45^11^19^17^4^0^2^5^5^0.644
Burns, Ozark^0.420^50^18^21^13^1^6^0^6^4^0.680
Duddleston, Shiloh Christian^0.420^50^13^21^17^4^1^1^4^1^0.600
Serrano, Siloam Springs^0.417^48^17^20^12^5^0^1^3^1^0.583
Smith, Elkins^0.412^17^7^7^5^3^0^0^4^5^0.588
Eaton, Huntsville^0.412^17^8^7^9^1^1^0^6^6^0.588
Brewer, Mansfield^0.400^25^8^10^5^2^0^0^2^2^0.480
Carter, Bentonville West^0.400^15^5^6^6^1^0^0^2^0^0.467
PITCHING
(through Tuesday, April 2)
MINIMUM 12 INNINGS
PLAYER, SCHOOL^ERA^W^L^SV^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO
Owens, Waldron^0.00^1^3^0^19.2^5^21^0^15^45
Sussman, Rogers^0.00^0^0^0^21^15^3^0^4^19
Freeman, Lamar^0.41^2^0^0^17^13^1^1^6^14
C.Johnson, Van Buren^0.53^3^1^0^26.1^18^4^2^4^30
M.Watson, Rogers^0.56^1^0^0^25^12^2^2^5^35
Acuff, Springdale Har-Ber^0.97^2^1^3^21.2^13^9^3^7^28
Partin, FS Southside^1.33^4^1^0^31.2^24^14^6^10^30
Adams, Springdale Har-Ber^1.40^5^0^0^30^16^12^6^12^51
Nelson, Clarksville^1.57^2^1^1^22.1^16^9^5^14^16
Parrish, Elkins^1.70^2^0^0^12.1^5^6^3^3^16
J.Watson, Rogers^1.75^0^0^0^12^10^5^3^6^16
Phelps, Greenwood^1.82^3^2^0^34.2^28^18^9^15^40
Oswald, Shiloh Christian^1.84^3^0^0^19^10^7^5^6^19
Williams, Shiloh Christian^1.97^3^0^0^32^15^13^9^17^56
Jurecka, Greenwood^2.03^2^2^0^38^29^21^11^9^34
Willsey, Mansfield^2.10^0^0^0^26.2^24^24^8^11^34
Patton, Ozark^2.10^3^0^0^26.2^18^15^8^19^30
Statistical leaders are provided by coaches in the NWADG’s coverage area. Coaches may submit statistics by email to barclayalmanac@yaho… or by providing access to Game Changer accounts. The deadline to submit statistics is noon Wednesday.
"The cold weather has a lot to do with that," Bradley said. "First of all Bentonville's got a real quality club. We lost a tough, tough extra-inning game to them and then turned around and played in the some of the worst weather conditions we've had, cold and 40-50 mile per hour winds.
"They did a better job of handling the conditions, got ahead and it kinda snowballed."
Har-Ber won a pair of one-run games this week against crosstown rival Springdale High and climbed into a three-way tie for second place, just a game behind Bentonville.
"It's gonna be a dogfight for the conference championship, and those two first seeds," Bradley said. "It's wide open and fun for high school baseball, not necessarily fun for coaches. I feel like five teams in our league have a chance to win a state championship."
Bradley said he's been in an unusual position of still tinkering with the lineup, despite being near the halfway point of conference play.
"We're still trying to figure what our lineup's gonna be, and that's not a great scenario to be in," Bradley said.
But Arkansas commit Blake Adams has been a constant, both on the mound and at the plate, Bradley said. He also noted Hunter Wood has been a bright spot along with Kirby Jenkins and Clay Burtrum.
"Our pitching's been good," Bradley said. "The top of the lineup has started to swing it better, we just need production from 7-8-9 to bring guys up with people on base. We've stranded a lot of baserunners and not been able to separate ourself. That means every error, every walk comes into play in a close game.
"But our pitching and defense have done a good job, and we've been able to win some close games."
SPRINGDALE HIGH
Hard-luck Bulldogs keep fighting
A glance at the overall record would indicate a poor season for the Bulldogs, but it would not tell the real story.
Springdale (7-12, 1-5 6A-West) has epitomized hard luck this season. Of the Bulldogs' 11 total losses, eight have been by one run, including back-to-back times earlier this week against Springdale Har-Ber (4-3 and 3-2).
"We've had some down games where maybe things haven't gone our way," Springdale coach Scott Johnson said. "We've battled some adversity this year, but I keep telling our kids we're going to keep coming to the park, we're going to keep battling, we're going to keep scrapping."
The Bulldogs got solid pitching against Har-Ber that kept them in both games. Monday's starter Tanner Sargent held Har-Ber to three runs over six innings and struck out six. And in game two, Dylan Rollins went the distance and matched Sargent's numbers without walking a batter.
"I thought our pitchers did a good job of mixing their pitches and pounding the (strike) zone," Johnson said. "Any time you can mix it up and throw strikes, you give yourself a chance."
The Bulldogs ended the week on a positive note Thursday by downing Fort Smith Southside 8-5. Springdale will host Rogers High on Monday in a league game.
VAN BUREN
Pointers snap losing streak
Van Buren was an out or two away from being in the state finals a year ago, but it's struggled this season in the 6A-West Conference.
The Pointers (8-8, 1-5 6A-West) picked up their first league victory, 10-2 over Fayetteville, earlier this week. But they are still currently tied for last place with Springdale High. Van Buren had lost five consecutive conference games by a total of eight runs.
Pointers coach David Loyd said the team's pitching and defense have been solid. It's just been a lack of timely hitting that's put his team behind the 8-ball.
"We've left a ton of base runners on and haven't been able to get a two-out hit," Loyd said. "It kinda wore on us."
Loyd graduated four regulars including his catcher and both middle infielders, so he knew it might be difficult early in the season.
"Having a good feel for the other teams in the league, I knew it could be tough at the beginning," Loyd said. "And it has been. But we got a good win the other day, and hopefully we can build on that and get it going.
"We shook the order up quite a bit, and that seemed to get it going a little bit against Fayetteville. We just hope that kinda starts something and we can get it going a little bit."
Trevor and Conner Johnson have been a nice 1-2 punch on the mound, keeping the Pointers in games. Trevor Johnson and Landry Wilkerson have also been solid at the plate, Loyd said.
Van Buren faces Rogers Heritage next week, but the War Eagles knocked off league leading Bentonville High. So Loyd knows the Pointers will need to keep that momentum going.
"I think anybody can beat anybody," Loyd said. "There's a lot of ball left and a lot of good teams. You've got to be tough enough to get through.
"There's nobody you look at and say, 'We're gonna get those guys.' That's already been proven."
Sports on 04/05/2019