AA Sox bounce back to earn split with Malvern
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
The resilient Bryant Sport Shop Black Sox had a three-game winning streak going as they began a doubleheader against Malvern National Bank in AA American Legion baseball Thursday night at Bryant High School Field. And, though the Bankers snapped that mini-streak with a 15-5 win in the opener of the double-dib, the Sox came back to win the nightcap 9-6.
Not only did that improve Sport Shop to 12-7 on the season with their fourth win in five games, it was their seventh win in their last 10 as they head down the home stretch of the 2015 regular season.
The Sox host Benton on Monday, July 6, then play two against Beebe at Cabot on Wednesday, July 8. They’ll wrap up the regular season with a game at Hot Springs Lakeside on Friday, July 10, and a twinbill at Crossett on Monday, July 13.
Their Zone Tournament will begin Friday, July 17, at Malvern.
In Thursday’s win, the Sox rallied from a 3-1 deficit with six runs in the second inning then held on for the victory behind right-hander Daniel Darbonne. Joey Cates was 3 for 3, Hunter Oglesby had two hits and Jordan Gentry drove in a pair of runs with the crowning blow in that big second-inning uprising.
In the opener, the Sox rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the second only to have Malvern erupt for four in the top of the third and six in the top of the fourth to blow the game up. The Bankers’ right-hander Ashton Holyfield walked four and struck out 11 in the five-inning contest.
Game two
Bryant’s game-turning second began with walks to Darbonne and Preston Kyzer. C.J. Wallace then got a sacrifice bunt down and, when the throw from catcher Dalton Bray was in the dirt at first, the bases were loaded. Drew Brown, celebrating his 17th birthday (with cake and all), delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
Alex Thompson was struck by a pitch from Malvern’s Timber Johnson to load the bags for Cates, who ripped a one-hopper off the glove of the lunging second baseman. That brought around two runs, tying the game.
Oglesby followed with a tap to third that he beat out for a single. Thompson scored and, on the tardy throw to first, Cates hustled to third. Oglesby stole second to set up Gentry’s liner to right, which chased both runs home making it 7-3.
Malvern had threatened in the first when Jake Golden and Devin Carpenter drew walks and TaShawn Hart was hit by a pitch but Darbonne got Holyfield to hit a roller to third that Brown charged in to field. He threw to the plate in time for a force. With two down, Cates made a sparkling play on a grounder off Darbonne’s glove to retire Johnson.
Sport Shop took a 1-0 lead in the home half when Cates shot a single to left, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Oglesby’s opposite-field single.
Malvern took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second. Bray and Whit Jones singled then scored on a triple by Trace Collie. Jake Golden’s groundout got Collie home.
After Bryant responded with its big inning, the Bankers chipped two runs off the margin but Darbonne and his defense forced them to strand runners at first and third.
Kyzer singled, Thompson reached on an error and Cates lashed his third hit in the third but they were stranded.
In the top of the fourth, Darbonne fanned Golden then issued a walk to Carpenter. Again, however, Cates came through with a nice play up the middle that he turned into a 6-3 doubleplay.
Gentry was hit by a pitch to start Bryant’s fourth. With one out, Darbonne earned a walk. Kyzer was robbed of extra bases on a drive to left-center but Gentry alertly tagged and went to third. Moments later, Darbonne stole second. A wild pitch allowed Gentry to score as Wallace was drawing a walk. He swiped second then another errant delivery allowed Darbonne to score, making it 9-5.
A pair of singles and a sacrifice fly produced a run for Malvern in the top of the fifth as the Bankers made a bid at a comeback. With two down, Jordan Hart was hit by a pitch with a runner at third. Collie came up and hit a roller to Gentry at second, who threw to first just in time to retire the speedy batter, ending the game.
Game one
Malvern used a bad-hop single, two errors and a walk to score twice in the first inning. In the second, Jace Turner walked and was sacrificed to second. He scored on Collie’s double. A wild pitch allowed Collie to take third and he scored on a groundout by Jake Golden to make it 4-0.
In the bottom of the inning, Darbonne reached base on a third-strike wild pitch and Kyzer cracked a solid single to left. Wallace walked to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Darbonne to score but Holyfield fanned the next two. He got within a strike of getting out of the inning but Cates dumped a single into shallow left to drive in Kyzer. Oglesby then chased home Wallace and Cates with a triple to right-center, tying the game.
The Black Sox were short-handed going into the game with some of the team playing in North Little Rock with the Junior Sox. As a result, a centerfielder was playing shortstop, a first baseman with in rightfield, another first baseman was at third, and a catcher started in leftfield. That helped explain why they suffered seven errors in the five inning game. They had two in Malvern’s four-run third and two more in the six-run fourth. Carpenter had a sacrifice fly in the third. In the fourth, Turner contributed an RBI single and Carpenter singled in a pair.
In the top of the fifth an error, two wild pitches and a groundout produced Malvern’s 15th run.
Sport Shop made a bid to avoid the run rule in the bottom of the inning. Oglesby led off with a double down the line in left. And, with two down, Darbonne walked. When Kyzer’s grounder to short was booted, Oglesby scored and there were runners at first and second. But Holyfield ended the game with his 11th strikeout.
