Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville claims championship
Tigers hold off Conway 6-5 to win 7A state baseball title.
FAYETTEVILLE — Kasey Ford did not want any relief on the mound.
Instead, the Bentonville junior pitcher got help from the Tigers’ defense to preserve a 6-5 victory over Conway (245) in the Class 7A baseball state championship game Friday at Baum Stadium.
Right fielder Carter Brown threw out Conway’s McCall Dial at the plate to end the sixth inning with Bentonville (21-8) leading 6-4.
Conway closed to within 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh when pinch-runner Matt Boley scored on a passed ball with two outs.
With two on and two out, Bentonville Coach Todd Abbott came to the mound to check on Ford. The Tigers had two relievers warming up in the bullpen, but Abbott allowed Ford to finish what he started.
“Coach Abbott came out to talk to me and I just asked him to believe in me,” said Ford, who allowed 8 hits, struck out 6, walked 5 and was named the game’s MVP. “He did. He’s had faith in me all season.”
Ford — who threw 130 pitches in his complete-game effort — got Kolby Reck to fly out to Brown to end the game and give the Tigers their first baseball state title since 2002.
Bentonville sent seven batters to the plate and scored three runs in the second and fifth innings. The Tigers collected seven of their nine hits in those two innings.
A passed ball and a tworun single by senior Blake Werner gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead. In the fifth, the Tigers added three runs on a walk and RBI from Paul Rouse and Ben Nordin.
From there, Conway began to chip away at the Tigers’ lead.
“We’re down 6- 1 and there were some people in the stands ready to go home, but these guys never quit,” Conway Coach Noel Boucher said. “They kept playing. They kept doing what they were supposed to be doing. … We didn’t win this game, but we did a good job.”
Conway started freshman Jordan Wicks on the mound. Wicks ran into trouble in the second, giving up four singles and a walk before being lifted in favor of junior Matt Strickland.
Boucher said Strickland did not start because the pitcher wasn’t completely healed from a shoulder injury he suffered in the semifinals last weekend.
“Matt is not feeling well,” Boucher said. “He’s been trying to get treatment for his shoulder and neck. We really wanted to start Matt as a fresh pitcher, but it didn’t work out for us.”
Strickland lasted 22/3 innings. He gave up three runs but walked no one.
Senior Nick Starr and sophomore Cade Tucker held Bentonville scoreless for the final 22/3 innings, giving the Wampus Cats a chance to rally.
Wicks singled in two runs in the fifth inning to bring the Wampus Cats to within 6-3, but with a chance to close the gap to a run, Brown turned in the defensive play of the game.
Conway loaded the bases with one out on singles by Matt Lloyd, Dial and Jacob Adams. Ford got Tucker to fly out to shallow right for the second out.
Senior Collin Condit lined a single to right to score Lloyd, but when Dial also tried to cross the plate Brown threw a perfect strike to catcher Matt Bratspies to cut down Dial.
“That’s not his first time to do that,” Abbott said. “He’s done that for us multiple times this year. He’s got an outstanding arm, an accurate arm. That was huge.”
“When the ball comes at you like that, you don’t have time to think about it,” said Brown, whose throw left Bentonville nursing a 6-4 lead. “You just do what you have to do.”
Ford picked up two of his strikeouts in the seventh inning, but two walks, a single by freshman Andrew Hreha and a run-scoring passed ball pulled Conway to within 6-5.
On a two-ball, two-strike pitch, Reck sent a ball into shallow right field. Brown caught it near the right-field line for the game-ending out.
“I’m glad it came to me,” Brown said. “I was ready for it.”