CLASS 7A : Bentonville watches early, strikes late
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
It’s not a stretch to say the Bentonville Tigers prefer their opponents do the work.
That turned out to be a pretty decent strategy in Bentonville’s 7-4 victory over Conway in the first round of the Class 7 A state baseball tournament Saturday at Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Bentonville (14-16 ) scored three runs in the seventh inning off Conway reliever Zach Cates, breaking a 4-4 tie.
But the Tigers did most of their damage in the game’s early innings, even though they didn’t score a run until pitcher Erin McGee’s two-run double in the top of the fifth.
Bentonville knocked Conway starter Zach Wyatt out of the game early, not so much due to its batting but rather its patience. The Tigers worked Wyatt, who struggled with his command over five innings, into a high pitch count by maximizing the pitches taken in each at-bat.
“We’ve been pretty patient all year,” Bentonville Coach Todd Abbott said. “It helped that he wasn’t getting his breaking ball over much, so it was easy to lay off of it early.” If there was a key to the game, Conway Coach Noel Boucher said, that was it.
“After about 100 pitches, that’s his max,” Boucher said. “We really were hoping he’d go deeper into the game.” Boucher wanted to give Cates, the team’s No. 1 starter, more of a rest after the hard-throwing right-hander pitched in the regular-season finale for Conway (19-10 ).
Instead, with Wyatt spent after five innings and Cates less than 100 percent, Bentonville broke the game open in the top of the seventh.
After Matt Garza led off with a single off Cates, Derrick Lamp laid down a bunt that Cates fielded. Cates made an off-target throw to first, which allowed Garza to scored and put Lamp on second.
Then, Adam Seal ripped a double to left field to score Lamp.
This after a three-run sixth inning by Conway in which all three Conway runs came on a play that included two errors, including an errant relay throw that sailed past third base.
Bentonville struck back despite Cates’ fastball occasionally breaking 90 mph.
“It’s big, especially after they came back [in the sixth ],” Abbott said. “He was their No. 1, and we were able to put the ball in play, when good things are going to happen.” Though not throwing nearly as hard as Cates, McGee turned in the better outing, earning a complete-game victory with five strikeouts while giving up four hits.
“He did a fantastic job,” Abbott said. “He’s thrown well for us all year, but boy, he really stepped up.” Bentonville (13-16 ).................. 000 130 3 — 7 7 4 Conway (19-10 )..................... 100 003 0 — 4 4 0 McGee and Seal; Wyatt, Cates (6 ) and Cates and Blodgett (6 ). W — McGee. L — Cates. HR — Cates. FS SOUTHSIDE 6, CABOT 5 Fort Smith Southside scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to come back from a 5-4 deficit, with Wes McConnell scoring the winning run from second base on a fielding error. Cabot (14-11 )......................... 101 003 0 — 5 8 3 FS Southside (18-11 )................ 021 100 2 — 6 11 1 Erickson and Wainwright; Koch and Henry. W — Koch. L — Erickson. VAN BUREN 11, BRYANT 5 Van Buren (12-15 )...................... 262 100 0 — 11 9 1 Bryant (17-7 )............................. 000 203 0 — 5 6 5 Moore and Butikoser; Jobe, Sawyer (2 ) and Butler, Jobe (2 ). W—Moore. L—Jobe. Highlights—Of Van Buren’s 11 runs, all but 2 were unearned. ROGERS 6, PINE BLUFF 2 Pine Bluff................................. 200 000 0 — 2 7 1 Rogers..................................... 000 231 x — 6 8 0 Marshall and Campbell; Mathews and Hall. W—Mathews. L—Marshall. HR—Rogers: McKenzie Mathews, Austin Reid.
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