Photos courtesy of Paul Dotson
The Bryant All-Stars advanced to the winners bracket finals of the 13-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament by rolling to a 12-2 win over the Sylvan Hills Stars on Saturday at Bishop Park.
On Sunday at 2 p.m., Bryant was set to take on El Dorado’s All-Stars, who advanced with by forfeit as Clark County (Arkadelphia) withdrew from the tournament.
The Bryant team, coached by Greg Riggs, includes Kannon Allison, Dakota Clay, Joey Jilek, Cooper Kinzler, Cameron McDonald, Justin Orender, Alec Purdom, Ryan Riggs, Blaine Sears, Brandon Thomisee and Joshua Turner.
Bryant never trailed in the game, gaining a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first. Sears led off the game with a walk and stole second. He reached third when Riggs beat out a bunt single. When Sylvan Hills threw home to make sure Sears didn’t score, Riggs hustled to second. Clay delivered the first run with a sacrifice fly to left-center. Moments later, Riggs scored on a passed ball.
Sylvan Hills scratched out a run in the bottom of the inning without a hit. A walk and two hit batsmen loaded the bases. With one out, a passed ball allowed the run to score. Clay came on in relief for Bryant and got out of the inning by inducing a pop to second then fanning a batter for the third out. Sylvan Hills left the bases loaded.
It stayed 2-1 until the third when Bryant added to the margin. Purdom singled to right to open the inning. Sears singled to left and, with one out, Clay added a knock to right. Jilek’s reached on an error as two runs scored then Turner’s grounder to short was misplayed to get Clay home, making it 5-1.
Sylvan Hills used a single, a stole base, a groundout and a passed ball to get its second and final run in the home third.
Clay would go on to pitch around an error in the fourth, a walk and a hit batsman in the fifth and a walk and an error in the fifth, with a pickoff helping, in the fifth. In the sixth, a one-out hit batsman was erased on an unassisted doubleplay on a liner to short to end the game.
In the meantime, Bryant tacked on with four in the fourth, two in the fifth and a final run in the top of the sixth.
The fourth-inning outburst began with Allison reaching on an error and stealing his way to third. With one out, Sears drew a walk and Riggs shot a single to right to drive in a run. After a double-steal by Riggs and Clay, Turner hit a two-out grounder to short that resulted in a wild throw to first allowing a run to score. McDonald completed the inning with an RBI single, making it 9-2.
Allison got things started in the fifth as well, reaching on another miscue. He stole second and, with one out, Sears singled him in. He too swiped second and came around on a base hit by Riggs.
The final run was produced by Allison. He singled, stole second, reached third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball as Sears then Clay each drew walks.
