McClendon blasts Har-Ber to victory

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 4, ROGERS HERITAGE 0

ROGERS — Drue McClendon didn’t care that the dimensions of Rogers Heritage’s new baseball field are bigger in most areas than at many major league baseball parks.

The Springdale HarBer junior caught the wind blowing the right direction and belted his first home run of the season, propelling the Wildcats to a 4-0 victory over the War Eagles during 6A-West Conference action Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s a big ballpark, and it’s real nice here,” McClendon said. “I didn’t expect to get one here, but I was hoping it was coming. I hadn’t hit a home run all year, so it’s good to have one now.”

McClendon admitted Heritage pitcher Jeb Brown fooled him at first with the hanging curve ball, but that didn’t happen the next time. McClendon saw the pitch and belted a shot well beyond the 365-foot sign in left-center field and gave Har-Ber (10-2, 5-0) a 3-0 cushion.

Heritage (9-7, 2-3) appeared to be out of the first inning when Brown struck out the first two batters and caused Ethan Fender to hit a grounder to third. A bad throw, however, kept the Wildcats alive, then Brock Kimbel singled to set up McClendon’s blast.

“They extended the inning a little bit,” Har-Ber coach Dustin Helmkamp said. “They didn’t make many mistakes all night long. On the one they did make, Drue gets a huge hit.

“That may have been the difference in the ball game. We only got one more run later, and their pitcher settled in. He did a great job.”

It turned out that was all the run support Ross Felder needed. The right-hander went the distance and scattered five hits, and he had eight strikeouts in a 90-pitch performance.

Heritage did manage to get a runner in scoring posi- tion in the fifth and seventh innings, but Felder ended both threats and preserved his shutout with back-toback strikeouts with a runner on third to end the game.

“Great job by Felder,” Heritage coach Brian Walker said. “Obviously, he’s an Arkansas commit, and you can see why. The great program they’ve got, and we’re just trying to match them. Like we told our players, you can lose a game in the first inning, and we didn’t execute.”

Har-Ber’s only other run came in the second when Clark Jenkins doubled and eventually scored when Caden Ross hit a bouncer toward the mound, but Brown couldn’t make the toss to the plate in time.

The two teams will complete their series this afternoon in Springdale.

“They didn’t make many mistakes all night long. On the one they did make, Drue gets a huge hit. That may have been the difference in the ball game. We only got one more run later, and their pitcher settled in. He did a great job.”

Springdale Har-Ber Coach Dustin Helmkamp on Tuesday’s victory over Rogers Heritage