No doubt perturbed by mistakes made in their 7-6 loss to the Everett Black Sox Junior American Legion team earlier in the evening and boosted by the addition of Arkansas Baptist University freshmen Chase Anderson and Mark Rucker, the Hot Springs Village Graves Performance Sports AA American Legion team jumped on the Sport Shop Black Sox AA of Bryant with 10 runs in the first inning Tuesday night.
Anderson drove in five runs on a double and two triples while younger brother Dylan Anderson went 3 for 4 and Kyle Jessie slugged a late home run as Hot Springs Village put together a 15-1 victory.
The Bryant team continued to battle, getting runners on base in every inning but couldn’t break through exceptin the third when Dakota Besancon lined an RBI single to right with two down. Weston Jones, who had walked, stolen second and taken third on Bailey Bowers’ bounce out to short, crossed the plate.
But the Sox could not overcome the nightmare first inning in which Hot Springs Village used seven hits to take advantage of three errors and three walks. Chase Anderson had an RBI double and two-run triple in the inning. J.D. Simmons doubled in a run while Kelton Collins, Cody Fortner and Dylan Anderson each singled in runs.
Chase Anderson tripled in a pair in the third. Fortner knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth then Jessie drilled a solo homer leading off the fifth to complete the scoring.
Bryant used four pitchers in the game. Nick Kehrees and Caleb Chaffin were the most effective.
C.J. Phillips and Ashton Shropshire each had singles to go with the hits by Besancon and Bowers.
Right-hander Jesse Norwood scattered four hits, walked six and fanned two to pick up the win for Hot Springs Village.
The two teams turn right back around and play each other again tonight at 8 in the first game of pool play at the annual Peoples Bank Wood Bat Tournament in Sheridan. The Sox are set to take on Cabot at 6 p.m. on Thursday then Texarkana, Texas at 5:30 p.m., on Saturday to complete pool play. Semifinals are Sunday at 2 p.m., with the title game immediately following.
PEOPLES BANK WOOD BAT CLASSIC
Wednesday, June 18
Game 1 — Sheridan vs Stuttgart, 6 p.m.
Game 2 — Jacksonville vs Hot Springs Lakeside, 6 p.m.
Game 3 — Searcy vs. Pine Bluff, 8 p.m.
Game 4 — Hot Springs Village vs. Bryant, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 19
Game 5 — Russellville vs. Benton, 6 p.m.
Game 6 — Cabot vs. Bryant, 6 p.m.
Game 7 — Malvern vs. Conway, 8 p.m.
Game 8 — Sheridan vs. Pine Bluff, 8 p.m.
Friday, June 20
Game 9 — Conway vs. Hot Springs Lakeside, 6 p.m.
Game 10 — Cabot vs. Malvern, 8 p.m.
Game 11 — Texarkana, Texas vs. Malvern, 8 p.m.
Game 12 — Hot Springs Lakeside vs. Benton, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 21
Game 13 — Jacksonville vs. Benton, 10 a.m.
Game 14 — Hot Springs Lakeside vs. Russellville, 12:30 p.m.
Game 15 — Texarkana, Texas vs. Conway, 12:30 p.m.
Game 16 — Jacksonville vs. Russellville, 3 p.m.
Game 17 — Searcy vs. Stuttgart, 3 p.m.
Game 18 — Cabot vs. Hot Springs Village, 5:30 p.m.
Game 19 — Texarkana, Texas vs. Bryant, 5:30 p.m.
Game 20 — Stuttgart vs. Pine Bluff, 8 p.m.
Game 21 — Sheridan vs. Searcy, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 22
Game 22 — Semifinal 1, 2 p.m.
Game 23 — Semifinal 2, 2 p.m.
Game 24 — Finals, 4:30 p.m.
