MAGNOLIA — Eli Berry and Avery Heidelberg combined on a four-inning no-hitter in a 15-0 opener against the Carlisle All-Stars at the 10-and-under State Tournament for the Bryant Athletic Association All-Stars.
Bryant followed up with a well-earned 5-3 victory over the Crossett All-Stars that evening.
The team, coached by C.J. Brown, includes J.T. Allen, Gavyn Benson, Berry, Carter Brown, Heidelberg, Preston Howlett, Landon Jackson, E.J. Keith, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout, Hudson Thomason and Marcus Wimberly.
Bryant 15, Carlisle 0
Each pitcher worked two innings. Berry fanned five while Heidelberg finished with four strikeouts and two walks.
At the plate, Speer, Wimberly and Keith each had three hits. Wimberly drove in four and Speer three.
Bryant scored five in the bottom of the first and never let up. A one-out walk to Jackson got things started. Speer singled to center then Wimberly swatted a triple to right to chase them home. Keith’s single made it 3-0.
After Keith advanced to second on a passed ball, Benson walked. A wild pitch moved them to second and third for Heidelberg whose grounder to first was booted allowing Keith to come home. Benson scored on a passed ball.
Berry, who had fanned two in the first inning, struck out the side in the second.
There were two down in the bottom of the inning, when Bryant’s offense got rolling again as Allen mashed on to center for a pinch-hit triple. Speer singled him in then scored when Wimberly cracked his second triple. An error on the throw to third allowed Wimberly to score as well, making it 8-0.
Keith doubled but was stranded.
Carlisle managed a base-runner in the top of the third, with a one-out walk. But Heidelberg fanned the next batter then induced a comebacker to send it to the bottom of the inning.
Singles by Heidelberg and Howlett were followed by an error that allowed Stout to reach and Heidelberg to score. Berry doubled to plate Howlett, making it 11-0.
Thomason’s pop up on the infield was dropped and, after Allen grounded out to move the runners to second and third, Speer belted a two-run double. He took third on a passed ball and scored when Wimberly beat out an infield hit.
Benson singled up the middle then was forced at second on Heidelberg’s grounder to short. But Wimberly scored to make it 15-0.
Heidelberg finished off the win by striking out the side around a one-out walk.
Bryant 5, Crossett 3
Bryant took a 2-0 lead in the first and held a 5-1 advantage through four but Crossett whittled on the lead with runs in the fifth and the sixth. But Brown, the third Bryant pitcher, got the final two outs with the potential tying runs on base.
Thomason had two of Bryant’s six hits in the game. Benson and Wimberly each had doubles.
Speer pitched three shutout innings as the Bryant starting pitcher. He ran into trouble in the fourth and Stout relieved to get out of the jam with just one unearned run scoring. He worked into the sixth before Brown entered.
After Speer worked around an error and a one-out hit in the top of the first, Trusty opened the bottom of the inning with a single to center. Jackson followed with a knock and, when the ball was misplayed in center, Trusty raced home. Jackson wound up at third on the play. He tagged and scored on Speer’s sacrifice fly to center.
Crossett managed only a one-out walk in the second but Bryant was retired in order in the home half. In the third, another walk was all Crossett could muster.
Bryant tacked on a run in the home third. Stout singled and Berry sacrificed him to second. Thomason beat out an infield hit as Stout took third. Thomason stole second and, with two down, a wild pitch made it 3-0.
A double started Crossett’s fourth. Speer induced a pop to Jackson at second. Stout relieved and got the next batter to pop up on the infield but the ball was dropped. A run scored from third on a groundout. The trail runner tried to advance to third but Keith, playing first, fired to Brown at third in time to nail him for the third out.
Wimberly opened Bryant’s fourth with a double, taking third when the ball was mishandled in center. With one out, Benson doubled him home. Benson moved to third on Heidelberg’s grounder to short. He then scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.
Stout fanned two of the first three in the top of the fifth. Between the strikeouts, however, he issued a walk. Back-to-back singles after that made it 5-2. With runners on first-and-third, Stout got the next hitter to ground out to Carter at short who got a force at second to end the threat.
After Bryant was retired in order in the bottom of the inning, a walk started the top of the sixth for Crossett. Brown relieved and got the first out on a grounder to Jackson at short. A single put runners at the corners and a run scored when the next batter tapped out to Keith at first.
Another single kept Crossett’s hopes alive creating the first-and-third situation again. That’s when Brown got the final batter to bounce out to Heidelberg at second to end it.
