ROGERS — As many might have expected, the ball was in Blake Adams’ glove when Springdale Har-Ber finished off Conway in the first round of the 2019 Arkansas Class 6A baseball tournament.

However, having long since surpassed the pitch limit, the Arkansas signee was falling to the ground in right field after securing the third and final out of Thursday’s game to seal the Wildcats’ 6-5 win in 10 innings at Veterans Park.

“The grass is mushy out there,” Adams said with a smile. “I was running after it and jumped, then when I landed, my back cleat slipped off, so I just kind of rolled over to protect my shoulder. It made it kind of cool, I guess.”

A couple hours earlier, Adams was on the mound to start a rematch of last year’s Class 7A state championship game. In that matchup, he dominated the Wampus Cats with seven shutout innings and a pair of doubles at the plate.

Things weren’t quite as easy for him Thursday afternoon.

After cruising through a perfect first inning on 14 pitches, Adams ran into some trouble. Conway hit a double and drew a walk in the second and then drew another walk and stole second the next inning with the heart of its lineup coming up.

He escaped those situations unscathed, though, getting a strikeout to end both and strand three runners in scoring position.

“It’s one of those things, I felt like he kept getting behind in the count, so he was kind of in between pitches - fastball and then the next time a curveball,” Har-Ber head coach Ron Bradley said. “Overall velocity and everything was fine, we just got behind in some counts and into hitters’ counts and they made us pay for them a couple times.”

It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Conway broke through against Adams and it did so with the help of an error.

He walked the leadoff man, but got Clay Tollett to ground into what appeared to be an easy double play - only for shortstop Hunter Wood to boot it. Instead of being the third out of a nine-pitch inning, Carson Cahill’s fly out to right was a sacrifice - thanks to a wild pitch that moved the runner to third - to get the Wampus Cats on the board.

A second unearned run scored that inning on a fielding error by right fielder Sam Stephenson. Conway actually loaded the bases with just one out, the top of its order coming to the plate and trailing 5-2.

Adams didn’t flinch, striking out Stuart on a fastball and getting James Hicks to ground into a fielder’s choice that Wood fielded perfectly this time.

“It was a pretty close game, so those three runners on base would have been huge for the game,” Adams said. “It was a great play by Hunter Wood on the ground ball and then that strikeout was huge. It was a great feeling to get through that inning, get out of that mess and get ready for the next one.”

The next mess came a couple innings later. His pitch count continuing to rise, Adams gave up a leadoff triple in the sixth and walked the next batter. The final guy he faced was Cade Stuart, who hit a two-run single.

That put him at 111 pitches, one over the maximum allowed by the Arkansas Activities Association for one game, so it ended his outing. Stuart ended up scoring on a blown call by the first base umpire to tie the game 5-5, so it was officially a no decision for Adams.

The right-hander was charged with five runs, only three of which were earned, on six hits and five walks while striking out five. As those numbers indicate, he wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, with only 55.0 percent of his pitches being strikes.

“I was doing good going through the third inning and then I came out and got a little tired and the ball started coming up on me,” Adams said. “I had to work through some things, but my slider was really good for me today.

“My off-speed was good. They just weren’t swinging at it. They were letting it go and then they were on time with my fastballs.”

Har-Ber and Conway were locked in a 5-5 tie for a while until finally, in the third extra inning, Stephenson - the 9-hole hitter who committed an error earlier in the game - delivered the two-out go-ahead RBI single.

It’s worth mentioning that Adams went 2 for 5 with a double as the 3-hole hitter for the Wildcats, but his future is on the mound, despite the uncharacteristic performance Thursday afternoon.

Perfect Game has given him a perfect 10 grade and he signed with the Razorbacks last fall, more than two years after committing.

Bradley praised his ace for also being a “quality young man” and great student, while drawing comparisons to another Arkansas native who came into Arkansas’ program and immediately earned a spot in the rotation.

“I feel like he’s got a chance to come right in and pitch just like Connor Noland did,” Bradley said. “I think it’s going to be fun to watch those two pitch in the next two or three years.”

With a fastball that touches 94 miles per hour and has been in the 90-94 range the last few weeks of the season, Adams has also caught the eye of professional scouts.

There is a chance he gets picked in the MLB Draft next month, but how high or if he gets selected will likely depend on what kind of signing bonus number he floats out to teams.

“I think most scouts right now are thinking it’s going to be tough to lure him away from Arkansas, but the draft will dictate that as far as the round,” Bradley said. “He’s in a win-win situation, so we look forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks.”

As you’d expect, Adams isn’t too worried about the draft. Instead, his focus is on Har-Ber’s matchup with 6A-West champion Fayetteville at noon Friday and defending the Wildcats’ state title. (He won’t be able to pitch again until the state championship game at Baum-Walker Stadium next weekend, but he’ll remain in the lineup as one of their top hitters.)

“Right now we’re just letting the cards play out and if it happens, it happens,” Adams said. “Right now my sole focus is getting through the rest of the playoffs and get a state championship.”

Based on his coach’s comments and his history, though, it seems like he’ll be pitching for the Razorbacks in 2020.

Growing up just down the road from Fayetteville, he’s watched as Dave Van Horn has built Arkansas into a national powerhouse and can’t wait to be a part of it himself.

“They’ve had a great season,” Adams said. “I’m just really excited to get there and be a part of the great atmosphere Baum has. It’s just an amazing feeling going and watching those games, knowing I’ll be a part of that next year. I’m really excited.”