WOLVERINES' BATS HOT IN WIN OVER GOBLINS

CENTERTON -- Chip Durham knows the time will come when Bentonville West's baseball team will have to play a game on the road and will face a top-notch pitcher on the opposing team. Until then, the Wolverines will relish the accomplishments they have done on their home field. West made its Best Sports Classic debut a solid one Wednesday with a 14-4 rout over Harrison at the Wolverine Athletic Complex. The Wolverines (3-0) combined 14 hits with eight Goblin errors to come away with their second run-rule victory in as many games. "I'm just really proud of our coaching staff and our players," Durham said. "We have a bunch of young guys, and they're just buying in to what we're doing. They're learning the game as we're teaching it, and we're moving forward with it. "We're making mistakes, and what we're trying to do is make a note of it. When we get a chance to practice, we make sure what we did wrong, and so forth." West scored at least one run in each inning off five Harrison pitchers, and Will Jarrett led West's offensive attack with a 4-for-4 outing and drove in two runs. That included his team's first run as his first-inning single drove in Joey Aden, who started the game with a double over the left-fielder's head and stole third. Kendall Thornton, the ninth Wolverine batter, added three hits and drove in two runs while Jason Gloeckler chipped in three hits and an RBI. That was more than enough for West's pitching committee. Starter Jaron Jenkins (2-0) pitched two perfect innings before turning things over to a trio of relievers. "Things are going to get tougher," Durham said. "We have a top-five team Friday in Conway, and it's good for these young kids to have a little confidence right now and keep moving forward. That's all we can do -- just keep getting better every time we play and every time we practice." Harrison starting pitcher Laine Hilliard (0-1) allowed five runs in two innings, but accounted for most of the Goblins' offense. He had an RBI single in the third, then drove in two more with a triple in the fifth. Harrison coach Greg Crow said his young team's lack of making effective routine plays caught up with the Goblins again. "Youth is an excuse," Crow said. "We're really, really young, and we're playing like it. In order to have a chance to be successful, we have to do the most basic things and that's throw and catch the baseball. "We're not throwing strikes and pounding the zones with our pitches. We were behind on the count the whole time, and it's routine plays we're booting. There's nothing difficult on the plays we're missing."

WOLVERINES' BATS HOT IN WIN OVER GOBLINS

HENRY APPLE

Arkansas Online | 3/9/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Ivester