PINE BLUFF — On the heels of winning the 11-year-old USSSA State championship, the Bryant 11-year-old All-Stars captured the Little League 11-and-under State championship.
The team, managed by Jason Greiner with assistance from Jeremy Morrow, Jon Parker, includes Gage Burton, Gavin Burton, Caleb Greiner, Drew Hatman, Jaxon Holt, Colby Morrow, Calvin Myles, Cade Parker, J.T. Parker.
The All-Stars opened with a 3-1 win over Malvern on Saturday, July 11, then won the title the next day with a 16-1 romp after Malvern battled back through the losers bracket.
In the USSSA tourney, Bryant opened with a win over the Trinity Cardinals, 10-2, and a 5-4 loss to High Performance Baseball to open pool play on June 26. With a 5-4 win over Siloam Springs on June 27, they advanced to bracket play on June 28, winning three straight. They edged the Tornados, 5-3, then ousted Easton Elite (Bean), 12-4 to advance to the final where they captured the title with a 12-3 win over the FSBA Bandits.
Bryant 16, Malvern 1
In the championship game at the Little League tourney, J.T. Parker had three hits while Hatman, Greiner and Myles added two each. Gavin Burton, Hatman and Myles each drove in two.
J.T. Parker allowed just one run on four hits in the five-inning victory. He walked no one and struck out seven.
Bryant staked out a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first two frames then took control with a five-run third to make it 7-1. Two more scored in the fourth then a seven-run fifth made it a rout.
J.T. Parker blasted a solo homer to account for the first run. In the second, Greiner singled, took second on an errant throw and scored on a base hit by Myles.
After Malvern picked up a run in the bottom of the second, Bryant was helped out when Gavin Burton was hit by a pitch and Cade Parker walked. A passed ball sent them to second and third then a wild pitch allowed a run to score as Morrow drew a free pass. Morrow swiped second and Hatman cracked a single to center to make it 5-1. And when the throw back to the infield got away, Hatman scored as well.
Greiner reached on an error and took second on a passed ball but was thrown out trying to steal third.
The inning continued though with a walk to Myles, another wild pitch and another error on a ball hit by Holt that allowed Myles to score, making it 7-1.
Malvern managed a two-out hit in the bottom of the third but little else sending the game to the fourth. Bryant’s onslaught continued with J.T. Parker’s lead-off single. Gavin Burton was plunked by a pitch and, after a passed ball, Cade Parker delivered a sacrifice fly. Hatman’s double made it 9-1.
The fifth began with both Holt and Gage Burton getting hit. With one out, they moved up on a wild pitch and Gavin Burton bounced a single up the middle to plate both runs.
Cade Parker reached on an error and Morrow drew a walk. A passed ball allowed both Gavin Burton and Cade Parker to score, bumping the lead to 13-1.
Greiner singled in Morrow and Myles doubled him home. Holt put the finishing touches on the scoring with an RBI single to center.
J.T. Parker hit a batter to start the bottom of the fifth but then set down the next three to close out the championship.
Bryant 3, Malvern 1
Morrow pitched a four-hitter allowing only one unearned run without a walk. He struck out 11 in the six-inning contest in which Bryant scored all three of its runs in the first inning then held on.
Hatman had two hits. Greiner and J.T. Parker each drove in runs, Parker’s on a solo homer that started the scoring. Gavin Burton was hit by a pitch following Parker’s blast. Cade Parker bounced into a force at second and, with two out, Hatman came through with a single. An error allowed Cade Parker to score then Greiner singled in Hatman to make it 3-0.
Morrow had worked a 1-2-3 first and worked around a lead-off single in the second. Malvern threatened in the third when a pair of singles and a wild pitch had runners at second and third. But Morrow ended the inning there with a strikeout.
A single and a pair of errors led to Malvern’s run in the top of the fourth. But Morrow, with the help from the Bryant defense, finished the game by retiring nine in a row.
Roy Parker
Great article. I’m so proud of all the boys, but there is one on the team of whom I’m super proud. His name is JT Parker!! Today is his birthday and he is 12 years old. I’m so looking forward to him and his family coming to Temple, Texas to visit me a in couple of weeks. God bless!!