ARKADELPHIA — The Bryant 10-year-old All-Stars fell behind 3-0 in the first two innings against the[more] Benton 10’s Sunday in District Tournament play. And though they held Benton scoreless the rest of the way, and rallied, they absorbed a 3-2 loss.
The team will be back in action this evening at 6:30 p.m.
The 10-year-old team is coached by Greg Riggs with assistance from Scott Allison, Scott Curtis and Matt Orender. Players are Aiden Adams, Kannon Allison, Tyler Bates, Clay Curtis, River Gregory, Will Hathcote, Cameron McDonald, Trey Miller, Justin Orender, Ryan Riggs, Austin Schroeder, Blaine Sears, Brandon Thomisee and Josh Turner.
Benton took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single, a walk, a passed ball and a two-out single.
In the second, a double, a groundout and a single produced a second run. A grounder to the right side allowed the second runner to take second and, again, a two-out hit made it 3-0.
Riggs walked with one out in the first but was forced at second on a grounder to third by McDonald. Benton then set down five in a row before Curtis was struck by a pitch. A pair of passed balls allowed him to reach third and, after Riggs drew another walk with two down, a wild pitch allowed Bryant’s first run to score.
Hathcote, the Bryant starter on the bump, settled in and pitched shutout ball in the third and the fourth innings. In the top of the fifth, Gregory fueled his team’s comeback with a double to left-center. Curtis was hit by a pitch then Schroeder singled to load the bases.
After a pitching change, McDonald came up with one out and hit a fly that was tracked down by the Benton first baseman. But Bates, in to run for Gregory, tagged and raced home to score, making it 3-2. Though the Curtis and Schroeder tagged and advanced as well, getting into scoring position, a strikeout ended the inning as Benton escaped with the one-run advantage.
Bates took over on the mound for Bryant in the bottom of the fifth and, after surrendering a pair of walks, struck out two and ended the inning with a pop to Schroeder at short.
Down to their last three outs, the Bryant Stars got a runner aboard with one out when Turner walked but the Benton pitcher struck out the side to nail down the win.
