Hornets topple Benton
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By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
BENTON — Behind a masterful pitching performance by Anthony Rose and a clutch two-run homer by Brandon Nichols, the Bryant Hornets stunned the Benton Panthers with a 3-1 win on Bill Perry Field at Bernard Holland Park Friday, April 21.
It was the first AAAAA-South Conference loss for the third-ranked Panthers and a much-needed victory for Bryant which came into the contest 2-3 versus the league, with all three losses by one run. The win snapped a three-game skid overall, as well.
Rose was splendid. With a sharp breaking curve, a tailing fastball and exceptional control, he left many of the Panthers flailing at air as he struck out 11 without a walk. He allowed just four hits, one of which was a solo homer by Kevin Ashworth to lead off the third inning.
That tied the game at 1-1 and it stayed that way as the game intensified through five innings. But, in the sixth, Nichols mashed a two-out, two-run homer off Benton’s Kyle Pryor to give the Hornets the lead that would turn into a victory.
Pryor allowed just five hits, walked two and fanned nine in a route-going performance for the Panthers.
“I told them before the game, ‘I’m not going to tell you this is just another game, it’s not,’” reported Hornets head coach Terry Harper. “It was like we told them all year, ‘You play the game. You don’t play the team, you play the game.’ I told them the other night, ‘We’re not getting any breaks.’ The way baseball’s played, they’re supposed to start falling in and that’s what they did tonight.
“Of course, Anthony — it was the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch, by far” Harper added. “He took it to another level.”
“I had some good off-speed stuff,” Rose said. “I didn’t have the best fastball that I’ve had but I thought I had pretty good control with a lot of curveballs and change-ups. I hit my spots.
“After (Ashworth) hit that home run, I was a little worried,” he allowed. “But then I came back and got two outs on like two pitches and that helped a lot.”
Nichols made a bid to put the Hornets ahead in the first inning, pinning Adam Roberson, Benton’s left fielder, to the fence with a drive following Dustin Morris’ two-out single.
Rose pitched around an error and a bad-hop single by B.J. Kentner in the second, stranding runners at second and third.
Bryant then broke the goose egg in the top of the third when Travis Lawhon drove a double off the fence in center with one down and Matt White followed on the very next pitch with a double into the gap in left-center to chase him home.
But Ashworth tied it on a 2-1 delivery leading off the bottom of the inning. Rose retired the next two before Boyd Goodner beat out an infield hit on a slow roller to third. But Rose got Clay Goodwin to fly to right to end the inning. He allowed just one hit the rest of the game.
But Pryor matched him through the fifth, fanning four out of five during the stretch.
In the sixth, White singled but was thrown out at second on an unsuccessful sacrifice attempt by Matt Brown. With Brown at first, Pryor got Morris to fly to right. But, with a 2-1 count, Nichols unloaded with a drive to deep left that gave Bryant the lead for good.
Goodner led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center and, with one out, Kentner hit a bouncer to short that Bryant’s Tad Beene tried to nab on an in-between hop only to boot it.
With runners at first and second and just one out, however, Rose regained control. Nathaniel Doddridge popped to center then Rose struck out Nathan Moore.
Pryor worked around a one-out walk to Beene in the top of the seventh but Rose finished in style, striking out the side in the bottom of the inning to make it four in a row to end the game.
“We had some guys step up tonight and we’ve had some guys that have carried us all year that are fixing to come around,” he continued. “I feel us getting on a roll, I really do. And I think (the team) believes that. Pitching’s been our mainstay. It’s always going to give you a chance and I think our hitting will come around. (Pryor) is a pretty good pitcher, one of the better pitchers and Benton, of course, is a great team.”
The win gave the Hornets a chance to finish as high as third in the final regular-season conference standings. They took their 3-3 league mark into their final conference game against Camden Fairview on Tuesday, April 25.
