Photos by Crissy McEntire and Diane Dupree
By Madison McEntire
Logan Grant (Photo courtesy of Crissy McEntire)
LONOKE — The Bryant 14-year-old All-Stars posted their fourth straight double-digit victory as they beat Clark County 10-0 in five innings to advance to the finals of the 2015 Babe Ruth tournament at Lonoke on Monday, July 13. Next up for the All-Stars is the winner of the Clark County-Little Rock game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The “if” game, if needed, will be Wednesday night at 6.
The team members are Jacob Coppock, Logan Grant, Logan Chambers, Cade Dupree, Coby Greiner, Ryan Taylor, Brock Bariola, Logan Catton, Will McEntire, Sawyer Holt, Ryan Lessenberry, Cameron Tipton, Elijah King and Clift Chaffin. They are managed by Michael Catton with help from assistant coaches Phillip Dupree and Madison McEntire.
Grant was Bryant’s starting pitcher and breezed through the first inning with two strikeouts followed by a grounder to Catton at second. Coppock bunted the first pitch in the bottom of the first for a single and stole second. Chambers attempted to sacrifice Coppock to third but the pitcher fielded the bunt and fired to third where Coppock was tagged out. With Chambers at first, Grant grounded a single down the third base line to put two on.
Cade Dupree (Photo courtesy of Diane Dupree)
Dupree, playing on his 15th birthday, lined out hard to the center fielder for the second out. On a 3-2 pitch, Bariola’s grounder to second was booted, which allowed Coppock to score from second with the game’s first run. Taylor followed with a single to center that brought home Grant. Catton flied to center to end the inning but Bryant led 2-0.
In the top of the second, Grant again fanned the first two batters and then fielded a soft liner back to the mound for the third out. Bryant tacked on another pair of runs in their at-bat. Greiner led off with a walk and was forced out at second by McEntire who grounded to the shortstop. After a wild pitch moved McEntire to second, Holt was hit by a pitch and Coppock singled on a soft pop that just cleared the shortstop’s glove in short left. Chambers lofted a fly to left and McEntire retreated to third to tag. The left fielder lost the ball in the sun but, after it fell in, picked up the ball and fired a strike to the plate, just beating McEntire’s slide for an unusual 7-2 force out. Grant slapped a pitch up the middle where the shortstop made a diving stop behind second base but both Holt and Coppock scored on the play to give Bryant a 4-0 lead. Dupree flied to right to end the inning.
With a walk and a single, Clark County put two on with no outs to start the third but Grant escaped without giving up a run. After Grant picked the runner off second, Dupree made a nice over-the-shoulder catch of a pop behind first. A grounder to third ended the threat.
Coby Greiner (Photo courtesy of Crissy McEntire)
Bryant blew the game open with a four-run home third. They started the inning with two outs when Bariola flied to right and Taylor grounded out to the shortstop. Catton pulled a single down the line at third and Greiner was hit by a pitch. McEntire dropped a pitch into left for a hit to score Catton. Greiner moved to third on the throw to the plate and McEntire lumbered into second.
Tipton came off the bench to hit for Holt. A wild pitch scored Greiner and moved McEntire to third. Tipton was hit by a pitch and stole second. Coppock laced a single between the first baseman and the bag to score McEntire and send Tipton to third. A throwing error by the right fielder allowed Tipton to also cross the plate while Coppock hustled all the way to third. Chambers bounced out to the shortstop to end the frame but Bryant’s lead had doubled to 8-0.
Grant needed just five pitches to get three outs in the fourth. After a fly ball to left, Holt made an error at third. A grounder to Greiner at short forced the runner at second and then Coppock fired a pickoff attempt from behind the plate to Dupree to catch the runner off first base for the third out.
In the bottom of the fourth, Grant led off with a single to left and advanced to second on Dupree’s groundout to second. After Grant moved to third on a wild pitch, he had no trouble making it to the plate when Bariola smoked a 3-2 pitch into the gap in right-center for a triple. After an unsuccessful squeeze attempt, Taylor struck out and then Catton lined out to the centerfielder for the third out.
Will McEntire (Photo courtesy of Crissy McEntire)
Clark County went down quickly in the top of the sixth. After allowing a leadoff single, Grant fanned the next three batters to bring his strikeout total for the game to seven.
Greiner started the bottom of the sixth with a four-pitch walk. McEntire followed with a pop over the head of the third baseman that fell for a hit and both runners advanced an extra base when the left fielder’s throw got by the third baseman. Holt was hit by a pitch to load the bases and with Coppock at the plate, the Clark County pitcher unleashed a wild pitch to plate Greiner and end the game with Bryant taking a 10-0 run-rule win.
Logan Chambers (17) (Photo courtesy of Crissy McEntire)
