Nick Kehrees and Drew Brown combined to hold the Hot Springs Lakeside Rams Junior American Legion team to just one hit over six innings and the Sport Shop Black Sox AA team from Bryant held on for a 3-1 win on Tuesday night.
In a second game, the Sox took on Lakeside’s AA team and rallied for five runs over the last two innings before the Rams recorded the final two outs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. They hung on for an 11-7 win.
Sport Shop, now 7-10 on the season, hosts North Little Rock for two games on Thursday then takes a break until Friday, July 11, when they host Maumelle for a doubleheader.
Sport Shop 3, Lakeside Junior 1
The Rams loaded the bases in the top of the first on a pair of errors and a single by Kyle Lightsey but Kehrees pitched out of the jam, inducing a pop to short before striking out two. In three innings, he allowed just two walks in the third, which he followed up with a two-ball to keep the Rams scoreless.
Brown relieved in the fourth and retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, issuing only a walk to start the fifth. Colton O’Keefe ended that string with a one-out double in the seventh. An infield hit with two out by Caleb Lloyd set up Zac Goins’ RBI single. But Brown kept it to that by getting Lightsey to ground to Diego Vargas at second who got a force out to end the game.
The Sox had their 3-0 lead after two innings. In the first, Bailey Bowers ripped a drive beyond the reach of Colby Cockrell in right, legging out a triple. Bradley Plunkett singled him home.
In the second, Daniel Darbonne beat out a bunt for a hit, advanced to second then third on a pair of wild pitches by Lightsey. He scored on Caleb Chaffin’s grounder to third.
With two down, Colin Welch earned a walk. He picked up second on an errant pickoff throw then went to third on a wild pitch. Vargas swing at a 1-2 pitch in the dirt and when catcher Erick Aguirre’s throw to first was low, Vargas reached safely as Welch scrambled home to make it 3-0.
O’Keefe relieved Lightsey in the third. Kehrees had singles in the third and fifth while Ashton Shropshire and Brown singled in the third. But the Sox were unable to add to their run total.
Lakeside AA 11, Sport Shop 7
The Rams scored in all but the fourth inning, hammering out 11 hits including three by Tanner Rice.
But the Sox wouldn’t go away, taking advantage of eight walks and a hit batsman with seven hits including a pair by Joey Cates.
Lakeside took a 4-0 lead over the first two innings. In the first-inning, Bo Ritter walked, stole second and took third on an errant throw. On a pitch to Johnathan Barmore, Sox starter Bailey Bowers stumbled on his delivery, resulting a balk that allowed Ritter to score. Barmore followed with a double, which he tried to stretch to a triple only to have the Sox execute the relay from Shropshire in center to Kehrees to Vargas in time to nab him at third.
In the home half, Garrett Garner surrendered a single to Kehrees and a walk to Bowers. A wild pitch put runners at second and third but the Lakeside right-hander struck out the next two to keep it 1-0.
Rice doubled and scored when Chase Willingham’s infield hit was followed by a late, errant throw. With two out, Conrad Carlton drew a walk and lead-off man Hayden Lindsey laced a two-run triple to right to make it 4-0.
Bowers got Ritter to pop to second to force the Rams to strand Lindsey at third.
And in the home second, two-out walks to Welch and Vargas, followed by a wild pitch, set the stage for Cates to deliver a two-run single to center.
Lakeside tacked on a run to make it 5-2 in the top of the third. Brandon Hall doubled and, taking off from second on the pitch, scored on Rice’s infield hit.
The Rams turned doubleplays to erase Bryant base-runners in the fourth and fifth. A three-run fifth increased their lead to 8-2. Ritter singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Barmore. Hall singled to right then Rice beat out an infield hit to load the bases. A run scored when a fly to left was misplayed then Blake Spiker got a squeeze bunt down to drive in the third run.
Noah Easterling relieved with the bases loaded and got the third out on a liner to Shropshire in center.
A double by Ritter and a two-out error in the outfield extended the Lakeside lead by a run in the top of the sixth.
The Black Sox started on the comeback trail in the bottom of the inning, sparked by a single from Bowers. Plunkett worked a walk then Darbonne beat out a nicely placed bunt to load the bases.
Andrew Spakes, on in relief of Garner, made a bid to get out of the jam when he struck out the next two batters but a wild pitch allowed Bowers to score before Easterling looped a base hit down the right-field line to plate two.
Wildness hurt the Sox in the seventh as Lakeside tacked on a pair of runs without a hit in the top of the inning. Without those, it would’ve gotten even a bit more tense for the Rams in the bottom of the inning.
Cates shot a single up the middle to start the uprising. He advanced to second on a groundout. Walks to Bowers, Plunkett and Darbonne followed, forcing in a run and a pitching change. Chaffin greeted Rice, the fourth Lakeside pitcher, with a grounder up the middle that could only be knocked down behind second as Bowers scored to make it 11-7.
With two down, Easterling made a bid for another big hit only to have Spakes, now at third, make a leaping catch of his liner to rob him and end the game.
