BENTON — Dylan Hurt and Jake East combined on a two-hit shutout and the Bryant 14-year-old[more] Babe Ruth All-Stars exploded for seven runs in both the second and fourth innings as they advanced in the winners bracket of the Babe Ruth State Tournament at Bernard Holland Park Saturday.
The 16-0 win over the El Dorado All-Stars followed up Bryant’s 11-1 win on Friday over Clark County. The Bryant Stars are set to take on Hamburg on Sunday at 2.
The Bryant 14-and-under team is managed by Jerry East. The players are Logan Allen, Drew Brown, Cameron Coleman, Jake East, Lawson Fincher, Jeffrey Hastings, Dylan Hurt, Austin Kelly, Hayden Knowles, Preston Kyzer, Garrett Misenheimer, Aaron Orender, Kyle Sahr, Alex Shurtleff and Diego Vargas.
Hurt gave up a single to open the game but the next batter bounced into a force play and the one after that grounded into a doubleplay to end the inning.
Bryant got on the board in the home half when East walked and scored all the way from first when Orender deilled one to the gap in left-center for an RBI double.
The first out of the second inning was an eye-popper by Shurtleff at third. Hurt got the second out on strikes then surrendered a single to left. After a stolen base produced El Dorado’s only runner to get to second in the game, a pop to East at short ended the inning.
Bryant turned another doubleplay to erase an inning-opening walk in the third then East faced six batters and set each of them down, three on strikes to close out the game.
In the meantime, Bryant’s seven-run second erased any doubt about the ultimate outcome. Kelly’s one-out double to left-center opened the onslaught. Coleman doubled him home then scored on a wild pitch before Allen reached on an error. With two down, East was hit by a pitch. Orender singled and, after Allen scored on a passed ball, Orender reached on an error and Shurtleff singled in East to make it 5-0.
Misenheimer cracked a two-run double and, after Hurt walked, Kelley singled in the run to make it 8-0.
Another run scored in the home third. Allen walked and stole second, Hastings singled and East walked to load the bases. Orender picked up the RBI with a groundout.
The fourth-inning outburst began with a one-out walk to Hurt who took second on a passed ball then stole third. Brown was hit by a pitch then Fincher singled to drive in Hurt.
Allen bunted into a force at third but Vargas singled to plate Fincher, making it 11-0. A base hit by East knocked in two more. After Sahr drew a free pass, Shurtleff singled and Misenheimer walked. East, Sahr and Shurtleff wound up scoring on errant pitches to close it out, sending the game to the top of the fifth, which East worked through in short order.
