PREP BASEBALL Van Buren completes sweep of Bentonville West

VAN BUREN -- Make it nine wins in the past 10 games for the Van Buren Pointers baseball team.

After a rough start to the season, Van Buren has found its way and completed a two-game sweep Tuesday against 6A-West Conference leader Bentonville West with a 4-1 victory.

"We dug ourselves into a hole early in conference play," Van Buren coach David Loyd said. "It has been tough getting out of there. You are playing against good teams every week. We have put ourselves in a good spot and have been playing better recently."

That showed Tuesday at the Field of Dreams. Van Buren (16-9, 6-6 6A-West) was able to get timely hitting and was able to pitch around trouble to extend its winning streak to three games.

West (16-9, 8-4) was able to get the first run of the game in the top of the third inning when leadoff man Will Jarrett manufactured a run. He reached on a single, stole second, stole third and scored on the error after his last swipe for a 1-0 lead.

Van Buren quickly bounced back in the bottom of the third when Landry Wilkerson, who started the game on the mound, was able to help his own cause. Wilkerson hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. Ninth-place hitter Noah Lipe started the inning with a four-pitch walk and came around to score the run.

The Pointers were able to break open the game in the fifth inning, using a three-run, two-hit frame to take a 4-1 advantage. They didn't look back after that.

Dakota Peters, the cleanup man, lined a double that scored two to help push the Van Buren edge out to 3-1. Wilkerson later scored to make it 4-1 on a passed ball.

"That double was the big one that set the tone for the last couple innings," Loyd said. "Peters is hitting in that four spot. He struggled to start the year. But in the last few weeks, he has really come on for us."

West was able to get the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh inning with just one out, but Van Buren was able to pitch around the jam.

Connor Johnson picked up the save for the Pointers pitching a scoreless frame despite allowing three base runners. The game ended with the bases loaded.

"Going into the last inning, we only had three hits then we had two freshman get hits there for us," West coach Chip Durham said. "Van Buren did a good job. Our bats have gone a little cold the past two games."

Wilkerson picked up the win for Van Buren pitching six innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits and three walks while striking out five.

"He is getting better and better every time out," Loyd said. "His off-speed stuff was really good. He didn't quite have his command with the fastball. He does a good job keeping people off balance. He just competes really hard."

West had its scoring opportunities early but left five runners on base in the initial four innings. Wilkerson then had two perfect innings in the fifth and sixth to help slow down the scoring threats.

"We got the big hit with guys on base and they didn't," Loyd said. "That was the difference. I was really proud of the guys beating a team like West because they are a good team."

Van Buren will close out conference play against Springdale, while West will finish league play with a series against Bentonville as teams fight for playoff seeding.

"We'll get back to the drawing board because we still have some games left to play," Durham said. "We are looking to get some mojo back for us going down the stretch."

Van Buren 4, Bentonville West 1

West 001 000 0 - 1 5 2

Van Buren 001 030 X - 4 6 1

Wilkerson, Johnson (7) and Callahan; M. Thornton and Bourg (6) and Trammell. W - Wilkerson, 4-2. L - M. Thornton, 7-1. Sv. - Johnson (1).

Springdale Har-Ber 3, Rogers High 1

Landon McAlister tossed a one-hitter and the Wildcats got enough offense to earn the 6A-West Conference win at Arvest Ballpark.

McAlister struck out seven, walked one and hit two batters in pitching the complete-game.

Har-Ber snapped a 1-1 tie, scoring twice with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.

Kirby Jenkins reached first on a close play to give Har-Ber the 2-1 lead and Rally Miller followed with an RBI-single up the middle.

Jenkins, Miller and Charlie Acuff finished with two hits each. Rogers managed only one run in the top of the first on Sal Jacobo's fielder's choice ground ball. McKayden Templton, who had the Mounties' lone hit, scored on the play.

Fayetteville 12, Rogers Heritage 1

Luke Davenport went 2-for-2, drove in four runs and also picked up the win on the mound for the Purple Bulldogs.

Davenport allowed a run on five hits over five innings. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.

Andrew Walker chipped in two hits, while Jeff Sinacore and Bennett Elkins drove in two runs each.

Quentin Edwards went 2-for-2 and scored a run for Heritage.

Springdale High 4, Bentonville High 3

A Bentonville error allowed Springdale to score two runs and take the lead for good as the Bulldogs held on for a win at Tyson Park.

J.P. Hignite and Austin Wages raced home when Max Dosier's grounder was misplayed and gave Springdale a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Red'Dogs made it 3-1 when Brock Pounders scored on another misplayed grounder, this time by Christopher Harvey.

Bentonville (14-10, 6-6) made it a 3-2 game in the sixth when Keaton Cloyd singled and scored on Sam Golden's double, but Springdale responded when Austin Gill singled and scored on Alex Bowers' grounder. That loomed large because the Tigers scored a run in the seventh when Luke Bennett reached on an error and came home on a Kayton Coffee groundout.

Bentonville then had the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first when the game ended with a fly ball on the infield.

Sports on 04/24/2019

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