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Bentonville third baseman Ethan Arnold celebrates after hitting an RBI double in the fifth inning Saturday against Springdale Har-Ber in the Class 6A state baseball semifinals at Springdale. The Tigers did it again Saturday afternoon, with little room to spare. Bentonville was down to its last out when its offense came to life and scored six runs en route to a 7-3 semifinal victory over Springdale Har-Ber on the Wildcats' home field. "These guys -- what a great three games," Bentonville Coach Todd Abbott said. "This is a special group. These guys love each other. The energy and the confidence was there throughout the entire game, even though we gave up those two runs. "You could feel the momentum shift, but these guys believed. I'm at a loss of words. I'm so proud of these guys." The Tigers (23-10) trailed 3-1 to start the seventh inning, and their comeback almost never materialized, even though Jackson Hutchens started the inning by being hit with a pitch. He was still at first when Ethan Arnold hit a potential game-ending ground ball to third, but a fielding error kept Bentonville's hopes alive. Luke Crumpler then hit a single to right, and Hutchens eventually scored on a wild throw toward the plate to make it a 3-2 game as Arnold went to third and Crumpler to second. That set the stage for Kieper Pate, whose single went through the hole between shortstop and third, allowing both runners to score and give Bentonville a 4-3 lead. "I just know I've got to do a job," Pate said. "The first pitch he threw me was a slider on the outside corner for strike one, and I just knew he was going to come back at me with another slider. He threw it and I got it off the end of the bat, but I put it in the right spot. It was just see ball, hit ball. "I wasn't trying to pull the ball. I was just trying to get a good bat on the ball. I just happen to pull the ball and it got through the right hole."

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville Sports Network

6A STATE BASEBALL: BENTONVILLE, CONWAY ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIP

HENRY APPLE

nwaonline.com | 5/16/2022

PHOTO CREDIT: NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo