SHERWOOD — By outscoring two opponents by a combined 22-2, the Bryant 11-year-old All-Stars have advanced to the single-elimination championship tournament at the Firecracker Classic as a No. 1 seed.
Bryant opened with a 12-2 thumping of Little Rock Junior Deputy, then bounced Cabot, 10-0, on Saturday. The Bryant Stars were set to play in the tournament portion of the event beginning today at 4 p.m.
Jerry East is the manager of the 11-year-old team with assistance from Rick Brown and Rusty Misenheimer. The team includes Landon Abernathy, Logan Allen, Drew Brown, Jake East, Jeffery Hastings, Dylan Hurt, Austin Kelley, Hayden Knowles, Garrett Misenheimer, Aaron Orender, Landon Smith and Diego Vargas.[more]
Bryant 12, Junior Deputy 2
Jake East had three hits including the game-ending RBI single while Misenheimer and Kelly each added two hits for Bryant.
Orender went the distance on the mound, scattering five hits over four innings. Junior Deputy scored a single run in the second and another in the third.
Bryant built a 5-0 lead in the first when East singled, took second on a balk and third on a bunt single by Allen. A wild pitch allowed him to score as Allen took second. With one out, Misenheimer singled him home then, after advancing on a pair of wild pitches, scored as well on a groundout to second by Orender.
Knowles kept things going with a single then Kelly looped one down the right-field line for a triple that made it 4-0. He scored on a wild pitch.
After Junior Deputy got on the board in the top of the second, Bryant was retired in the bottom of the inning. The Little Rock team whittled another run off the margin to get within 5-2 before Bryant broke the game open with another five-run burst in the bottom of the third.
East singled and stole his way to third. Allen walked and stole second then Hurt reached on an error and Misenheimer cranked a double to center to make it 8-0. Orender singled and Misenheimer came home on a wild pitch. Orender stole second and, after Knowles walked and Kelly got them to second and third with a groundout, a balk allowed Orender to score, making it 10-2.
Orender worked around a two-out single in the top of the fourth to set up Bryant’s game-winning home fifth. Brown was hit by a pitch and scored when Hastings reached on an error. Abernathy walked before East singled to left to bring Hastings in with the final run, giving Bryant a win based on the 10-after-five innings rule.
Bryant 10, Cabot 0
Garrett Misenheimer pitched a four-inning no-hitter, allowing just two base-runners while striking out eight.
The lone base-runners came with one out in the second when an error allowed one to reach base, and in the fourth, when Misenheimer issued his only walk with two away.
Bryant took a 4-0 lead in the second when Knowles singled, took second on a wild pitch, stole third and, after a one-out walk to Smith, came home on a two-out, two-run single by Hastings. Abernathy walked then worked a double steal with Hastings. A wild pitch allowed Hastings to score and a passed ball got Abernathy home after Vargas has reached on an error. East tripled to make it 5-0 but was later out trying to score.
In the third, Allen walked, stole his way to third and scored on a passed ball to make it 6-0.
Knowles started the fourth with a double. Kelley walked and, after a double steal, Smith picked up an RBI with a groundout. With two down, Hastings doubled, Abernathy was hit by a pitch and Vargas singled to load the bases. Hastings scored on a passed ball then walks to East and Allen forced in the game-clinching runs.
