Bent but not broken: Ross Felder's pitching helps bring home 6A title for Springdale Har-Ber

By Buck Ringgold | Photos by Tommy Land 

CONWAY - All game long, Bentonville bent Springdale Har-Ber starting pitcher Ross Felder.

Felder, however, refused to break. He continually escaped trouble in all six innings Felder threw in Thursday afternoon’s Class 6A championship game. 

His teammates then gave him a boost with a four-run bottom of the third as the Wildcats went on to defeat the Tigers, 5-1, at the University of Central Arkansas.

“Really, I had the guys behind me and they were going to make plays,” said Felder, a junior who was named the game’s MVP. “I just had to get over the nerves a little bit and just pitch my game and then let my teammates make plays behind me.

“I think my fastball was working good and then my secondary pitch was the curveball. I think those two were working well; that’s kind of what we stuck to (Thursday).”

Check It Out: Arkansas high school baseball state finals preview

Felder ended up throwing 109 total pitches over his six innings. The lone run he allowed was unearned while giving up four hits and walking four.

But Felder was able to strike out six, and though he never pitched a single 1-2-3 inning, he made the clutch pitches whenever necessary, as Bentonville stranded 10 baserunners.

“He has a knack for doing that. … But he was able to come through when we needed it the most,” Har-Ber coach Dustin Helmkamp said. “Honestly, I didn’t think he had his best stuff, but I thought he gutted it out, after pitching on five days’ rest.

“That guy’s a competitor; he’s been one all year long and every big game we’ve been in, he’s been on the mound and I wouldn’t trade him for anybody, I thought he just competed.”

The Tigers got two runners on in the top of the first before Felder registered an inning-ending strikeout. Bentonville then loaded the bases with one out in the second before Felder got back-to-back fly outs to once again get out unscathed.

“The game’s about scoring runs and keeping the other team from scoring runs, and we certainly had our opportunities to score, we just didn’t come up with a hit or whatever it took to score, we didn’t do that and they were,” Bentonville coach Todd Abbott said. “Felder was able to make pitches when he needed to and their defense made the plays, and that was really the difference in the game; they played a good game, they played a clean game.”

Har-Ber (28-6) gave Felder all the support he needed in the bottom of the third. The Wildcats scored four runs on four hits, with two of those runs scoring on a pair of outfield errors.

Felder led off that inning by drawing a walk, and the next batter, Kaleb Kellar, did the same. With Luke Cornelison coming up to bat, Abbott switched pitchers, going from starter Ethan Payne to Eli McCall.

On the very first pitch thrown by McCall, Cornelison smacked a hit into left field, scoring courtesy runner Britt Wittschen, and a misplay in the field allowed Kellar to come around and score, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Vote now: Who should be SBLive's Arkansas high school athlete of the week?

“The two walks were big; without them, that would have been a two-out (hit),” said Cornelison, a sophomore. “I was sitting on the curveball the first pitch and he threw me a fastball up and in, and I got my hands to it and it found a hole and we scored two.”

Har-Ber then made it 4-0 on another outfield error and a two-out RBI infield single from Dylan Gibson. Felder also led off the fourth with a single, and a two-out RBI single from Jeff Zachry eventually extended the Wildcat lead to 5-0.

With the way Felder was pitching, the Wildcats believed that was more than good enough.

“He’s big on the mound, and everybody’s got a lot of confidence with him on the mound and we’ve done really well with him on the mound,” Cornelison said.

Bentonville (21-13) finally broke through in the top of the sixth, as Carter Nye reached on an error to lead off the inning and went to third on a single by Rowan Christensen. Nye later scored on a sacrifice fly from Casey Christ.

The Tigers got two runners on with two out in the top of the seventh against Har-Ber reliever Gavin Moore, but Wildcat catcher Kaleb Ceola fielded a chopper right in front of the plate and fired to first to end the game.

Har-Ber won its second state title in program history and the first since 2018, while the Wildcats had lost in the title game in 2019 and again in 2021. Helmkamp mentioned the Wildcats were able to get the ship steered in the right direction after a slump two months ago.

“In early March, we had some struggles there. … We finished 28-6 but we lost three in a row there and got swept by one of our conference opponents and people were kind of questioning us, and all these kids did was respond,” he said. “There was no panic. … They just went on an absolute tear and run, and there were a lot of doubters, not in our clubhouse but outside of it, and for them to quiet the noise and know what they’re capable of, and to accomplish this is special.”

Arkansas' best high school baseball players: Meet the state's top catchers 

Har-Ber finished with seven hits on the day. Ceola was the only player on either side with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.

The Tigers - seeking their first title since 2015 - lost in the title game for the second straight season. But with every starter returning except for starting pitcher Payne, Abbott believes the Tigers have a good shot at getting right back in this position a year from now, and perhaps the third time will be the charm for his squad.

“Only two teams get to play in that last game, and we were fortunate and blessed to play in this game the last two years, so I’m sure there will be a deep hunger and desire to get back here and finish the job next year,” Abbott said.

Felder had that feeling of falling short his freshman year. It was a much different feeling as he held his MVP trophy while getting several photo opportunities with Wildcat supporters who swarmed the field afterward.

“We had a feeling going into the game that we were confident but not arrogant about it, and we were ready to bring one home for the school. … It feels amazing, and honestly, it’s kind of hard to put into words, this feeling right now,” Felder said.