Van Buren takes control early in win over Har-Ber

Senior Day turned into a bad day for Springdale Har-Ber. Van Buren grabbed an early five-run lead and defeated the Wildcats 8-2 on Monday in 7A-West Conference action at Arvest Ballpark. The loss dropped Har-Ber (22-4, 9-2) into a first-place tie with Rogers, which beat Bentonville West 7-0 on Monday. Evan Jones and Dakota Peters each had three hits to lead Van Buren (17-4, 7-2), which outhit the Wildcats 12-7. Trevor Johnson pitched 6 2/3 innings to earn the victory over Blake Adams, who was relieved in the seventh by Treshon Pascal. "We had some good at-bats and got a little bit of confidence at the plate," Van Buren coach David Loyd said. "Trevor threw great for us, and we played well behind him." Van Buren battered Adams for three runs on five hits in the second inning. The Pointers sent nine batters to the plate and were helped by an error that kept the rally going. Van Buren increased its lead to 5-0 in the third inning after a double by Johnson and a three-base throwing error that allowed a run to score. Jones reached on an infield single and scored after a throw by Jake Williams on an attempted force play at second base rolled nearly to the fence in center field. Har-Ber loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning but managed only one run against Johnson, a junior right-hander. Blaze Brothers brought home a run with a sacrifice fly after three consecutive singles by the Wildcats to start the inning. But Johnson limited the damage when he struck out Mac McCoskey and got Adams on a long fly ball to left fielder Seth Humphrey, who made a running catch. Bryce Watters also started two double plays after fielding hard-hit grounders at third base for the Pointers. "Seth Humphrey went back and caught that ball I thought had a chance to get out of the park when (Adams) hit it," Loyd said. "The kids made big plays, and I'm very proud of them." The Pointers added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to take an 8-1 lead. Har-Ber will try to even the series when the teams meet at Van Buren today. Van Buren 032 001 2 -- 8 12 2 Springdale Har-Ber 000 010 1 -- 2 7 2 Johnson, Jones and Rauser. Adams, Paschal and Brown. W -- Johnson. L -- Adams. HRs -- None.

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN TAKES CONTROL EARLY IN WIN OVER HAR-BER

RICK FIRES

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 4/24/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlie Kaijo