Van Buren takes another from Springdale

The Van Buren Pointers pleaded the fifth on Springdale on Tuesday. Nine straight batters reached base for Van Buren in the fifth inning and the Pointers broke open a scoreless game in a big way for a 10-0 win in the second game of the two-day home-and-away series. Van Buren (16-3, 6-2) won the first game on Monday, 10-9, to set up a season-ending three-series run against Springdale Har-Ber, Fayetteville and Bentonville. “We needed that one, playoff wise and stuff that was a big one for us,” Van Buren head coach David Loyd said. “It takes a little pressure off us. Now we can relax. We have three series to go. We know what’s coming. It’s going to a big three weeks. It’s going to be fun. The kids are excited about playing those guys.” The Pointers scratched out the close win on Monday night with a late rally. Tuesday, the Pointers and Bulldogs (9-13, 2-8) were deadlocked at 0-0 through four innings. Van Buren centerfielder Bryson Patrick saved at least a run in the second inning to keep the game scoreless. Austin Wages led off with a double for Springdale. After an out, Ben Roach hit a sinking liner to short left center, which Patrick made a diving catch on. “I did see it all the way, but I had a doubt that I wasn’t going to catch it,” Patrick said. “When you’re in the air and you make the catch, you have a relief.” Patrick, who only plays center when Landrey Wilkerson is pitching, then jumped up and fired to second baseman Evan Jones, who stretched to complete the double play and end the threat. “Just the diving catch was amazing enough, then I thought there’s only one out so I might as well as try to get two,” Patrick said. That prevented Springdale from getting any momentum and the lead in the scoreless game. “That was the play of the game,” Loyd said. “I didn’t see him catch it. Somebody blocked my view. I saw him start to dive and then I heard a roar from the crowd. Then the great thing is to throw the ball to second to get the double play. Their guy was throwing well and holding us down, so that was a huge play.” After Van Buren starter Wilkerson completed his fifth inning of scoreless pitching, the Pointers came alive offensively in the bottom half of the frame. None other than Patrick started the inning with a sharp single to right, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Seth Humphrey and took third on Wilkerson’s bunt single, which was also the start of nine straight batters reaching base for the Pointers. Chase Moore followed with a single to plate Patrick for the first run of the game. After Ethan Rauser walked, Trevor Johnson walked with the bases loaded to force in Wilkerson. Moore scored on a balk, and Jones singled in two runs for a 5-0 lead. Jones later scored on an error, and Van Buren loaded the bases again with Wesley Painter drawing a walk to force in Cooper Johns for a 7-0 lead as Van Buren sent 13 batters to the plate. “We got it going and got some base hits, and got some walks,” Loyd said. “We had the big inning and we really relaxed and put the ball in play. It was a lot of fun once we got going.” Van Buren ended the game via the run rule with three more runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Patrick, who also was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning, coaxed a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning to force home Johnson, who had singled. “I had a lot of fun today,” Patrick said. “It was a fun day.” Humphrey followed Patrick’s bases-loaded walk with another walk to force in Johns. Wilkerson singled home Dakota Peters, who had singled, for the 10-0 lead. Wilkerson and Jones combined on a three-hit shutout with Jones finishing up with a scoreless sixth inning. Jones came in late to earn the win on Monday night. “Both of those guys are key for us the next couple of weeks,” Loyd said. “They’re going to have to throw a lot. We’ve counted on them all year and they’ve been pretty consistent. They’ve done a nice job and hopefully that will continue.”

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN TAKES ANOTHER FROM SPRINGDALE

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 4/18/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics