Conway uses big inning to whip Heritage

ROGERS -- Conway used a big inning to take down Bentonville on Wednesday. It used a similar recipe to defeat Rogers Heritage in the Best Sports Classic on Friday at Veterans Park. The Wampus Cats exploded for a nine-run second inning en route to a 12-1 win over the War Eagles. Conway coach Noel Boucher likes coming to Northwest Arkansas to prepare for conference play and giving several pitchers a chance to get some work. Senior Cade Tucker picked up the win, allowing a run on four hits over four innings. He struck out five, walked four and hit a batter. "He's signed to go to Eastern Oklahoma, pretty good hand," Boucher said. "Had a little different than we're used to as far as zone, but he handled it real well. That helped him a little bit, not losing his cool there. We're just glad to play with conference starting next week." Heritage's lone run came in the fourth when Ben Pollock drew a bases-loaded walk off Tucker. But the difference was the big second inning. The Wampus Cats combined five hits, two walks , two hit batsmen and an error to score nine and take a 10-0 lead. Conway managed 11 hits led by Tucker, Cade White and Jordan Wicks with two hits each. Tucker also drove in two runs. Heritage coach Mitch Cameron acknowledged the big inning was something that plagued his team a year ago and spelled doom again. "We had eight quality at-bats though," Cameron said. "A week ago we were averaging two quality at-bats. We got better. Defensively, three or four errors hurts you, too. That causes big innings. Noah (Guill) came in and pounded the zone. Dylan (Qualls) struggled to pound the zone. "You don't pound the zone, everybody gets back on their heels. You make errors." Heritage (0-3) opens 7A-West Conference play by hosting Springdale High at 4:30 p.m. Monday. North Little Rock 6, Rogers High 0 The Mounties failed to get a hit in falling to the Charging Wildcats. Rogers (2-1) had only three batters reach base, two being hit by a pitch and the other on an error. Mason Griffin started and took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked two. Conway 5, Bentonville West 2 The Wampus Cats (4-1) jumped to a 3-0 lead and held off a late charge for the win. West (3-1) pulled within 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth as Hunter Mayes broke up a no-hitter with a lead-off single. Joey Aden followed with an infield single. Mayes later scored on a wild pitch. Will Jarrett drove in Aden with an infield out. Conway added two runs in the seventh (one unearned) to set the final margin. Jason Gloeckler took the loss for the Wolverines, allowing three runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out two and walked three. Matt Lloyd, who went 3-for-4, gave Conway a 2-0 lead in the third inning and Wicks added a solo home run in the fifth.

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Conway High School Athletics

CONWAY USES BIG INNING TO WHIP HERITAGE

PAUL BOYD

Arkansas Online | 3/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway Athletics