Black Sox drub Titans, head to Omaha
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Alex Shurtleff and Austin Kelly combined on a four-hit shutout and the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team took advantage of seven walks and two errors with 15 hits to dismiss the Southwest Arkansas Titans at Bryant High School Field.
Blake Patterson had two doubles and a triple, driving in six runs. Drew Tipton, Evan Lee, Trey Breeding and Dylan Hurt each had two as the Sox improved to 6-2-2 on the season going into their annual trip to Omaha for the Battle of Omaha tournament. They were set to open on Thursday, June 18, against Hickman, Neb., at 10:30 a.m., in Gretna, Neb. On Friday, they continue pool play at 3:30 p.m., with a game against Rosemount, Minn., followed immediately at 6 with a game against Gretna. On Saturday, Bryant takes on Wayne County, Neb., at 1 p.m., and the Mountain Home Blues at 3:30.
Against the Southwest Arkansas Titans, Shurtleff allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two. Kelly relieved in the sixth and worked around a walk with the help of a doubleplay then walked the first two in the seventh before striking out a pair and ending the game on a grounder to Connor Tatum at second.
Shurtleff got both of his strikeouts in the first inning after a game-starting single. In the bottom of the inning, the Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead when Tipton drilled a double to left center, moved to third on Patterson’s grounder to second and scored when Jason Hastings’ grounder to short was booted.
In the second, the Titans threatened with a one-out error and a single. After a sacrifice, Shurtleff got the final out on a grounder to Brandan Warner at third.
The Sox then broke the game open with a seven-run outburst, fueled by consecutive walks to Breeding, Garrett Misenheimer, Hurt and Tatum for force in a run. Tipton reached on an error as a second run scored then Warner singled in Hurt and Patterson cracked a two-run double. Hastings delivered a run with a sacrifice fly then Lee singled to make it 8-0.
In the third, Tatum walked, Tipton doubled and Warner came through with a sacrifice fly to add to the margin.
Meanwhile, Shurtleff was in the midst of a stretch in which he retired eight of nine batters. In the fifth, a lead-off double put the Titans in position to dent the plate but, on a single to right, the Sox worked the relay from Hastings to Patterson to Breeding to nail the lead runner at the plate. With two out, an error extended the inning only as long as it took for Shurtleff to pickoff the runner at second to end the inning.
Bryant scored twice in the bottom of the fifth. Hurt singled and Tatum walked. Tipton grounded into a force at second but beat the relay to first, avoiding the doubleplay. Warner picked up another RBI with a grounder to short and Patterson’s second double brought Tipton a round.
Lee led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple. Breeding doubled him in then Hurt singled to make it 11-0. With two down, Logan Allen singled to left and Warner walked to load the bases for Patterson who cleared them with a triple to deep center.
In the bottom of the seventh, Breeding and Misenheimer head hammered singles. Breeding scored on Hurt’s groundout and Misenheimer came home on a wild pitch.
The scheduled nine-inning game was called after seven.
