Photos courtesy of Crissy McEntire
By Madison McEntire
Logan Chambers and Hunter Mullings.
EAGLE PASS, Texas — Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean once remarked “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.” Before the game their opponent did the bragging, with the overheard comment: “This will be the quickest five-inning game we have played all year,” but they couldn’t come close to backing it up as Logan Grant allowed just four hits and got 14 ground ball outs and pitched a complete game, leading the Bryant 13-year-old All Star team to a 9-0 thumping of Nederland, Texas, in the opening game of the 2014 Babe Ruth Southwest Regional on Friday, July 25.
Logan Chambers went 2 for 3 with a pair of walks and three runs scored and Grant helped his own cause with a double and three RBIs.
Next up for Bryant is either Eagle Pass, Petal, Miss., or Del Rio, Texas on Sunday, July 27 at 1 p.m.
Team members are Logan Grant, Cade Dupree, Jacob Coppock, Logan Chambers, Logan Catton, Will McEntire, Jacob Shepard, Hunter Mullings, Ryan Lessenberry, Brock Bariola, Coby Greiner, and Sawyer Holt. The team is managed by Michael Catton with help from Phillip Dupree and Madison McEntire.
Logan Catton applies a tag.
In the top of the first, Bryant missed a chance to jump to an early lead. Coppock bounced a ball up the middle and Chambers pulled a single into the right-center gap to put runners at the corners. After Chambers stole second, Grant walked to load the bases. Nederland pulled the infield in and the strategy worked as Dupree hit a chopper to the shortstop who fired to the catcher to force Coppock and then Dupree appeared to beat the throw to first but was called out for a double play. Greiner walked to reload the bases. Mullings then fouled off five full-count pitches before flying out to right field to end the inning.
Grant set Nederland down quickly in the first on a grounder to Catton at second, a liner to Holt in right and a grounder to Dupree at first.
Logan Grant
Shepard led off the second with a walk for Bryant and went to second on a wild pitch. On an 0-2 pitch, Holt hit a grounder to short but Shepard moved to third on the play. With one out, the squeeze play was on and Catton bunted the first pitch up the first-base line and was tagged out by the pitcher but Shepard scored to give Bryant a 1-0 lead. Coppock ripped a single in the gap in right but Chambers lined hard at the shortstop for the third out.
Nederland’s cleanup hitter opened the bottom of the second with sharp grounder at Catton that took a bad hop over his head for a single and then a soft pop into left fell for a hit to put two on. A wild pitch moved the lead runner to third. Grant made a pickoff attempt at third and the runner got back but the trail runner bolted for second on the move and Greiner whipped the ball to Catton at second who applied the tag for the first out. Grant issued his only free pass of the game to put runners back on the corners but Coppock gunned down the runner trying to steal second and then Grant recorded his only strikeout of the game when the batter swung at a pitch that hit him on the wrist.
Bryant added three runs in the third. Grant opened the inning with a line out to center but Dupree reached first on an error by the shortstop. Greiner lined out to right field for the second out before Mulllings walked to put two on. Shepard dropped a soft line drive into right that scored Dupree with Mullings and Shepard moving to third and second, respectively, on the throw to the plate. A wild pitch scored Mullings before Holt struck out swinging to end the inning.
Sawyer Holt
Nederland went down 1-2-3 in the third, thanks to some quick thinking by Grant. After getting a comebacker to the mound for the first out, Grant snared a hard one-hopper back to the mound but the ball stuck in the webbing of his glove, so he quickly flipped the entire glove to Dupree at first who cradled it like he was catching a punt. Greiner then charged in and made a nice play on a soft roller to third to send the game to the top of the fourth.
Will McEntire
Although they failed to score in the first, Bryant had forced Nederland’s pitcher to throw 32 pitches after he tired in the third he was replaced to start the fourth. Bryant greeted the new hurler by batting around in the fourth and putting three more runs on the board. Catton led off with a walk. Coppock dropped a bunt in front of the plate and was out on a close play as Catton moved to second. Chambers walked on four pitches and then Grant slammed a double to the left-center gap to score both runners. Dupree was hit on a 0-2 pitch and after Greiner walked, Mullings was also hit by a pitch to load the bases. Shepard went down looking at a curveball for the second out. McEntire hit for Holt and loft an 0-2 pitch into center where the centerfielder made shoestring catch to end the inning and prevent two runs from scoring. However, Bryant had swelled their lead to 6-0
In the bottom of the fourth, Greiner fielded a perfect hop at third and fired to first for a quick first out. Nederland’s two-hole hitter ripped a double over McEntire’s head in right and then went to third on a ground out to Chambers at shortstop. He attempted to score on a wild pitch but the ball caromed off the backstop to Coppock who flipped to Grant at the plate who tagged the runner to end the inning.
Catton started the Bryant fifth with a ground out to second, but then Coppock was hit on a 0-2 pitch and was balked to second and then stole third as Chambers drew a walk. Grant hit a sac fly to right to bring in Coppock and then Dupree doubled down the right field line to score Chambers all the way from first. After Greiner walked on a 3-2 count, Mullings fouled out to third for the third out.
Hunter Mullings
Grant got a ground out to second to start the fifth but then Greiner made consecutive errors to put two on, the first on a low throw that Dupree could not scoop and then a routine grounder to third. However, his teammates picked him up when Grant got a high chopper of the hard dirt in front of the plate. Chambers waited the ball to come down and then relayed to Catton at second who made a nice turn for a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Bariola hit for Shepard and flied to center to start the sixth. McEntire then sliced a ball just out the reach of the left fielder and chugged into second with a double. Holt re-entered to run for him and moved to second when Catton grounded out to second. Coppock flied to left to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Grant recorded a out to Shepard in center on the first pitch before giving up a single the squirted through the left side of the infield. Chambers then charged in on a slow roller to get the second out at first. Dupree fired to second and caught the runner rounding the bag too far and was tagged out in a rundown when Catton ran him to third and flipped to Greiner who applied the tag.
In their last at-bat, Bryant added one more run. Chambers started the rally with a single in the gap in left. Grant grounded to the third baseman, whose throw to second ended up in right field, which allowed the runners to advance to third and second. Dupree bounced out to second but it scored Chambers and moved Grant to third. After Greiner walked for the fourth time in the game, Lessenberry hit for Mullings and popped to second. Shepard, who had re-entered for Bariola, lifted a fly to center where the centerfielder battled the wind before making the catch.
Consecutive ground balls to Chambers at shortstop accounted for two quick outs before Greiner made a nice diving play to his left, scrambled to his feet, and fired a strike to Dupree at first to end the game.
Jacob Shepard dives back in to second.
