It was the little things that made the difference between winning and losing for Siloam Springs on Wednesday.
Three Panthers pitchers combined to walk nine Springdale Har-Ber batters in the first game of a 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader, including the leadoff man in three straight innings which led to a pair of Wildcat runs.
Three throwing errors also contributed to runs, but even through the walks and errors, the Panthers still had a chance at victory in the seventh inning.
Siloam Springs had the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning before Har-Ber retired the final two batters in a 5-3 win at James Butts Baseball Complex.
"It's the little things we've been trying to preach," said Siloam Springs coach Jacob Gill. "Every out offensively and defensively is equally important, especially when you only get 21 of them."
The Panthers trailed 4-0 and were hitless going into the sixth inning as Har-Ber left-hander Weston Rogers blew through the Panthers lineup with 12 strikeouts in the first five innings.
Sophomore Matthew McSpadden broke up the no-hitter with a ringing double to left-center field to lead off the sixth inning.
Junior first baseman John Austin Earles' bat then ran into a Weston Rogers fastball and crushed it over the left-center field fence for a two-run home run to cut the lead to 4-2. It was Earles' and the Panthers' first home run of the season.
Har-Ber's Matt Garrison reached on a leadoff walk to start the seventh inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Kimbel to increase the Wildcats' lead to 5-2.
The Panthers got a run back in the seventh when Chandler Cook doubled to left field and scored from second base on a wild pitch. Dodge Pruitt followed with a double, but Har-Ber's Kaleb Pianalto struck out McSpadden and got Earles to ground out to end the ballgame.
"I loved our approach late," Gill said. "We struggled early, but no one panicked. We got more comfortable in the last two innings. I just wish we would have played that way the entire game."
The Panthers had more base hits than the Wildcats, but Har-Ber was able to take advantage of the walks and errors.
Siloam Springs junior starting pitcher Raiff Beever (1-5) was saddled with the loss. Beever walked six batters but also struck out five and wiggled out of trouble in several innings with minimal damage done. He allowed only two earned runs.
Freshmen Eli Hawbaker and Chance Junkermann each threw an inning of relief.
"Proud of Raiff, proud of our young guys," Gill said. "They gave us an opportunity."
Rogers (4-1), meanwhile, was brilliant for most of the night. He had a strikeout in all six innings he pitched, including striking out the side in the second, third and fourth innings. He finished with 13 strikeouts but also walked three.
That caused his pitch count to get higher than Har-Ber coach Randy Salsbury wanted.
"(Rogers) wasn't locating like he can and that ran his pitch count up higher than we wanted," Salsbury said. "We would have liked for him to finish that one out." Salsbury relieved Rogers with Paul Williamson to open the seventh inning. Pianalto relieved Williamson after two of the first three Siloam Springs batters reached in the seventh.
Gill said Rogers was dominant.
"Give Rogers, their guy on the mound, credit. He pitched really well," Gill said.
Gill said he had hoped the Panthers would be able to be more efficient at the plate against Rogers. Siloam Springs struck out 14 times for the game.
"We've been preaching efficient at-bats," he said. "A strikeout is the least efficient way to get an out."
It's a good thing Rogers was on his game, said Salsbury, who was not happy with his team's overall performance.
The Wildcats only had three hits offensively and left six runners on base, which allowed Siloam Springs to escape innings with minimal damage. Har-Ber also committed three errors in the field.
"Obviously I did a poor job of getting our guys ready to play," Salsbury said. "That was a very poorly played baseball game by us. Rogers basically throws a no-hitter and we're coasting behind him. I take credit for that and how poorly we played."
The Wildcats scored a run in the first inning when Brady Patrick reached on an infield single, stole second and third and scored on an RBI single by Phillip Cebuhar.
Alex Schemel scored Har-Ber's second run in the top of the second when he reached base after a wild pitch on a strikeout and moved all the way to third on an error.
Har-Ber turned leadoff walks in the fourth and fifth off Beever into runs aided by Siloam Springs errors to take a 4-0 lead.
Springdale Har-Ber 5, Siloam Springs 3
Springdale Har-Ber 110 110 1 -- 5 3 3
Siloam Springs 000 002 1 -- 3 4 3
Rogers, Williamson (7), Pianalto (7) and Mitchell, Lloyd (6); Beever, Hawbaker (6), Junkermann (7). W-Rogers, 4-1. L-Beever, 1-5. S-Pianalto (1). HR-Siloam Springs, Earles (1).
Game 2
Springdale Har-Ber 16
Siloam Springs 1
The Panthers (2-12, 1-5) showed life offensively early after Har-Ber took a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Pruitt and McSpadden reached on back-to-back singles and Earles scored Pruitt on an RBI groundout to tie the game 1-1.
Har-Ber (12-4, 3-3) scored seven runs in the second to go up 8-1. The Wildcats plated five more runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.
The Wildcats pounded out 16 hits and 16 runs in Game 2 to complete the sweep in five innings.
Patrick (2-1) got the win with four innings of work and had two hits. Kimbel had three hits and two RBIs. Cebuhar and Gus Vitt each had two hits and two RBIs, while Tyler Blackston had two hits. Josh Stephens had a hit and three RBIs.
Zac Bolstad (0-4) took the loss for Siloam Springs while Cook and freshman Josh Hunt also pitched in relief.
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday when they host Rogers Heritage for a conference doubleheader beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Springdale Har-Ber 16, Siloam Springs 1
Springdale Har-Ber 170 53 -- 16 16 1
Siloam Springs 100 00 -- 1 2 4
Patrick, Phillips (5) and Lloyd; Bolstad, Cook (4), Hunt (5) and McSpadden, Earles (5). W-Patrick, 2-1. L-Bolstad, 0-4. HR-None.
Sports on 04/13/2014