SPRINGDALE HAR-BER ROLLS OVER FAYETTEVILLE

Springdale Har-Ber right-hander Landon McAllister got just enough support from his teammates nine days ago to defeat Fayetteville. The Wildcats gave him a lot more than he needed Friday afternoon in their 12-1 run-rule victory over the Purple Bulldogs to advance to the Class 6A state baseball semifinals at Veterans Park. Har-Ber (24-7) will now take on Cabot (23-5) at 2:30 today in the semifinals. North Little Rock will take on Bentonville West in today's semifinals. Both games will be played simultaneously, beginning at 2:30. North Little Rock and West will play on the north field, while Har-Ber and Cabot will play on the south field. The Connors State signee acknowledged pitching with a big lead is less stressful. But he also said his team was confident thanks to the earlier victory. "It's pretty aggravated when I have to keep grinding," said McAllister, who beat Fayetteville 2-1 on May 1. "I love just getting a leading and pitching with a lead. It's great. "We changed a few things on a couple of guys, but not a lot. It just all worked out." His teammates obliged with a six-run top of the second against Fayetteville starter Ethan Trivitt and the Wildcats never looked back. Lead-off man Hunter Wood and Kirby Jenkins drove in two runs each in the big inning, while Clay Burtrum added an RBI-single for a 6-0 lead. The hit parade continued to the tune of 11 hits over five innings. Arkansas signee Blake Adams punctuated it with a long two-run home run in the top of the fifth. Wood finished 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Adams, Burtrum and Charlie Acuff added two hits each. Jenkins also drove in three runs. Har-Ber coach Ron Bradley said his team has come around offensively over the last couple of weeks and changing some routines has really paid off. "We spent a lot of time hitting the curveball off the machine," Bradley said. "We went away from it, and it's really been bothering us, and the last two weeks it just seems like we're seeing the ball better. We're getting better cuts. "It just seemed like today every time we needed a big hit, we came through. We had a tendency in the past to leave a lot of runners on. Today we were able to separate ourselves and Landon did a great job. Just a good performance all the way around." That was plenty for McAllister. He allowed a run on four hits, struck out three and walked three over five innings to get the win. Jeff Sinacore went 2-for-2 with a solo home run for Fayetteville, the 6A-West co-champions and No. 1 seed. Har-Ber 060 33 -- 12 11 1 Fayetteville 001 00 -- 1 4 2 McAllister and Kimbel; Trivitt, Gibbs (3), Davenport (4) and Turner. W-McAllister. L-Trivitt. HRs- Har-Ber, Adams, Fayetteville, Sinacore.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER ROLLS OVER FAYETTEVILLE

Photo Credit: Fayetteville High School Athletics

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