Hornets snap skid
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting 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).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
RUSSELLVILLE — It was the most measly of hits; a roller off the handle of pinch-hitter Jake Holloway’s bat. It hugged the third-base line that, had third baseman Tyler Sawyer not picked it up, would’ve bounced off the third base bag. It wasn’t moving fast enough for Sawyer to make a play on it. Holloway made it first in short order out of the left-hand batter’s box.
And thus, one out away from completion, Kaleb Jobe’s no-hitter was spoiled.
“It just shows you how difficult it is to do,” noted one observer.
Jobe struck out the next batter and finished with a one-hit shutout of the Russellville Cyclones. And, under the circumstances, whether the junior right-hander held the Cyclones hitless or not had to be secondary to Jobe and his Bryant Hornets teammates. They needed a win after suffering three straight losses in 7A-Central Conference play and they got it, clubbing the Russellville team 10-0 after they had absorbed a disappointing 2-0 loss at home to the Cyclones just days before in the middle of that three-game skid.
“Winning’s a whole lot better than losing,” declared Bryant head coach Terry Harper. “That may be all it takes, get that monkey off your back. It’s tough when you feel like you’re snake-bitten whether you are or not, most times just because you don’t play very well. Sometimes it’s because the other team plays better than you and it just happens that way. Sometimes you just play poorly. I think we’ve had a little bit of everything. Hopefully, we can maybe start a new season, re-focus, re-commit to each other, commit ourselves to see what can happen the last three weeks.”
The Hornets improved to 12-4 overall and 5-3 in conference games.
Jobe set the tone by retiring the first seven batters he faced. He hit a batter with one out in the third but pitched around that then worked around a one-out walk in the fourth.
“Jobe did a heck of a job,” Harper acknowledged. “We did a good job at the plate too.”
Indeed, the Hornets grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when Cody Walker, who had three hits in the game, ripped a double to left-center, Jordan Knight walked and Drew Ransdell singled in a run. With two down, Jake Jackson’s infield hit allowed Knight to score as well.
In the top of the fourth, Knight singled and swiped second, one of seven stolen bases by the Hornets. After taking third on a groundout by Ransdell, Knight scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Suggs. Jackson got the carousel spinning again with a double, scoring on Jobe’s base hit. Courtesy runner Brennan Bullock stole second and scored on David Guarno’s single up the middle, making it 5-0.
Jobe continued to shackle the Cyclones, working around a walk in the fifth and an error in the sixth.
Trent Daniel and Walker each had RBI doubles in the top of the sixth and, in the seventh, the Hornets struck for three runs to complete the rout. Knight started the final salvo with a base hit and another steal. Ransdell sacrificed him to third and, after Suggs walked, Jackson grounded into a force at second as Knight scored.
Jobe and Guarno walked to load the bases for Daniel, who capped off the inning with a two-run single.
Russellville sent up pinch-hitters in the bottom of the seventh and Jobe retired the first two easily, first on a tap back to the mound then on a strikeout before Holloway spoiled his gem. He then ended it with his third strikeout.
