Little Rock Catholic 3, Van Buren 1

Junior left-hander Evan Hiatt allowed just four hits and struck out 13 to lead the Rockets to a minor upset win. The 6-foot-3 junior, who has verbally committed to Arkansas, allowed only one Van Buren base runner past second base to improve to 8-2. He struggled with command at times, which drove up his pitch count. Hiatt was forced out of the game after reaching the daily limit with two outs in the seventh inning. Van Buren (18-6) rallied against reliever Tate Stine as Ethan Holmes walked and Conner Catron reached on an error. Ethan Rauser singled to right field to drive in a run, but Catron was caught in a rundown between second and third and tagged out to end the game and send the No. 4 seed from 7A-West home. Catholic coach Dustin Strube was thrilled to advance in the state tournament. "We had to take him out and they capitalized," Strube said. "We didn't make a couple pitches when we needed to and they did what they're supposed to and one thing leads to another and we're in a jam. Luckily, we made a heads-up play at the end and salvaged this thing." Catholic, the No. 5 seed from the 7A-Central, was opportunistic as two of its three runs were unearned and aided by Van Buren throwing errors. The Rockets (19-12) will face 7A-Central champion Cabot at noon today in a quarterfinal matchup at Bentonville High. Landrey Wilkerson accounted for two of Van Buren's six hits, while Cody Hogg went 2-for-3 to lead Catholic.

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Van Buren High School Athletics

LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 3, VAN BUREN 1

MIKE CAPSHAW

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 5/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics