Bentonville ekes out win over Har-Ber

BENTONVILLE 1, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 0 (8)

BENTONVILLE — Bentonville needed to work a little extra, but found a way to knock off Springdale Har-Ber in a 6A-West softball matchup Monday afternoon.

The Lady Tigers pushed across the only run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to an obstruction call to win 1-0.

Bentonville (8-4, 4-2 6A-West) had lost two straight nonconference games coming in, but managed to outlast the Lady Wildcats despite managing just three hits.

Pinch-runner Kate Maness was tagged out at the plate following Taylor Chrisp’s single to right field for what appeared to be the second out of the inning in the bottom of the eighth. But the umpires got together and called obstruction on a HarBer fielder between second and third base and the runner was ruled safe to score the game-winning run.

Chrisp accounted for two of Bentonville’s three hits as Har-Ber freshman Cyarah Dotts kept the Lady Tigers’ offense in check. Dotts struck out seven and walked only one despite taking the loss. She pitched 5 1/3 innings of no-hit ball until Chrisp doubled to left field in the sixth, but the Lady Tigers could not push across a run.

Har-Ber’s Savannah Woods went 2-for-3.

Bentonville Coach Kent Early said his team has dealt with some inconsistency, but the Lady Tigers are continuing to persevere.

“We’re battling,” Early said. “We’ve got some kids we’re counting on that are staying positive. They are coming through like Taylor. She hadn’t had a hit in five games.”

Ryann Sanders picked up the win for Bentonville. She scattered 5 hits over 8 shutout innings and struck out 12.

Har-Ber Coach Randy Osnes said his team failed to take advantage of scoring chances it had as the Lady Wildcats finished with five hits compared to just three for Bentonville.

“We didn’t take advantage of the five hits we had today … we had plenty of opportunities,” Osnes said. “We kicked the opportunities to the curb instead of taking advantage of them.”

Har-Ber fell to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play. The Lady Wildcats had a four-game winning streak snapped.