Photos courtesy of Crissy McEntire
By Madison MeEntire
Jacob Coppock
LONOKE — The Bryant 14-year-old All-Stars cruised to the finals of the winners’ bracket of the 2015 Babe Ruth tournament at Lonoke with a 20-2 pounding of Stuttgart on Saturday, July 11 and a 12-1 romp against the host team on Sunday, July 12.
Next up for the All-Stars is Clark County on Monday at 4 p.m.
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.
Bryant 20, Stuttgart 2
McEntire fanned the leadoff batter in the top of the first and, after a walk, got the second out on a swinging strikeout. Coppock’s errant pickoff attempt allowed the baserunner to advance to third but then Greiner made a nice backhanded snag of a hot smash down the line at third and fired across the diamond to end the inning.
Bryant exploded with six runs in the bottom of the first. Coppock led off with a triple on a long fly to center and scored when Chambers laced a single to left. After Grant chopped a single into left, Dupree bunted both runners up. Bariola walked to load the base and then Taylor was retired on a grounder to the pitcher with Chambers scoring on the play. Greiner was hit by a pitch to reload the bases and then Catton doubled home Grant and Bariola with a fly to center. McEntire singled on a fly to left to score Catton.
Will McEntire
Stuttgart went quickly in the top of the second as McEntire recorded two swinging strikeouts sandwiched around a grounder to Grant at shortstop.
In their second at-bat, Bryant plated eight more runs to lead 14-0. With one out, Chambers bounced a single into left off the shortstop’s glove and stole second and third before Grant was hit by a pitch. After Grant swiped second, Dupree singled both runners home on a grounder to left and took second on a throwing error by the left fielder. Bariola walked for the second time and stole second. Taylor singled back up the middle to score Dupree and move Bariola to third. Greiner’s sac fly to center scored Bariola. Catton then singled in the hole to the shortstop to put two on.
After a pickoff throwing error scored Taylor, McEntire singled to right to score Catton. Holt ripped a long fly to left for a triple to score McEntire all the way from first and then Coppock concluded the scoring when he lined a grounder off the pitcher’s leg into center to bring home Holt. The inning ended when the Stuttgart second baseman made a nice diving stop of Chambers’ smash, rolled over and fired to first.
Coby Greiner
McEntire struck out the eight-hole hitter to start the top of the third but then walked the next batter. Stuttgart’s leadoff batter bounced a double-play ball back to the mound but McEntire fumbled the catch and then rushed a throw to first that was high, allowing the batter to reach. The runners moved up on a steal as McEntire recorded his sixth strikeout. Coppock picked the runner off third, however, with Greiner scooping his low throw and firing back to the plate where Coppock applied the tag to end the inning.
Bryant scored just one in the bottom of the third. Grant led off with a single to left and went to second on a wild pitch as Dupree walked. Bariola forced Dupree at second and King, hitting for Taylor, walked to load the bases. Tipton hit for Greiner and popped up to the pitcher for the second out but Catton was hit to bring in Grant to make the score 15-0. With the bases loaded, Lessenberry grounded to the pitcher who retired Bariola at the plate to end the threat.
Dupree took over the pitching duties in the top of the fourth. A leadoff single put a runner on and Stuttgart used a couple walks, three stolen bases, a wild pitch and a throwing error by Lessenberry to score their only two runs before Dupree recorded a strikeout, fly to right and another strikeout to send the game to the bottom of the fourth.
Chaffin hit for Holt to start the fourth and grounded out to third. Coppock and Chambers slapped singles to left before Grant popped to the shortstop for the second out. Dupree singled home Coppock and then the Stuttgart leftfielder dropped Bariola’s flyball to allow both Chambers and Dupree to score. King smacked a single back thru the box to put two runners on and Greiner singled to left to score Bariola. Catton’s fly to right-center fell for a hit to plate King with Bryant’s final run before Lessenberry grounded out to the shortstop.
Logan Chambers
Dupree ended the game with a 1-2-3 inning, getting a pop back to the mound, a called strikeout and groundball to shortstop.
Bryant 12, Lonoke 1
Coppock led off the game by bunting the first pitch for a single. He then swiped second and went to third when Chambers also reached on a bunt fielded by the pitcher. Grant was hit to load the bases and then Dupree walked to score Coppock. After Bariola struck out, a wild pitch brought in Chambers before Taylor walked to fill the bases again. Bryant was unable to capitalize as Greiner was out on the infield fly rule on a pop to second and Catton bounced out to second.
Greiner was Bryant’s starting pitcher and quickly got a grounder to short and a called strikeout before running into trouble when he allowed a double down the line in left and a walk. After a strike to the batter, Greiner picked the runner off first to end the threat.
Bryant increased the lead to 3-0 in the second. After Holt popped to the shortstop, Lessenberry singled to right and went to second when Coppock grounded out to first. Chambers slapped a grounder that was misplayed by the Lonoke second baseman and Lessenberry slid around the throw to the plate to score. Grant then flied to left for the third out.
Logan Catton
Lonoke managed a single to right in the bottom of the second but Greiner kept them off the board with two strikeouts and a groundout to second.
Dupree opened the third with a walk and advanced to second on Bariola’s bunt single. Taylor also bunted to fill the bases. Greiner was called out on the infield fly rule on a pop to third for the first out. Catton bounced to the shortstop to force Taylor at second but beat the throw to first, allowing Dupree to score on the play.
Tipton hit for Holt and, after Catton swiped second, he was plunked to load the bases. Lessenberry drew a walk to bring in Bariola. Coppock hit a routine groundball to second but hustled down the line and was rewarded when the ball was mishandled, scoring Catton from third and leaving the bases loaded. Chambers ripped a single up the middle to score Tipton and make the score 7-0. Grant then flied to center for the third out.
After allowing a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the third, Greiner struck out the next three hitters to send the game to the fourth.
Dupree popped to the shortstop to start the inning. Bariola reached on a double when the left fielder lost his fly ball in the sun. Taylor reached on an error by the shortstop and stole second to put two runners in scoring position. McEntire batted for Greiner and lined a two-strike pitch to center for a a sac fly to bring in Bariola and move Taylor to third. King hit for Catton and was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. After King stole second, Chaffin hammered an 0-2 pitch back up the middle to score two runs and make the score 10-0. Lessenberry grounded out to end the inning.
In Greiner’s final inning on the mound, he set Lonoke down in order on a fly to left, a comebacker to the mound and a swinging strikeout.
Brock Bariola
Coppock started Bryant’s half of the fifth with an infield single off the glove of the pitcher and stole second. Chambers hit a fly to left that landed just inside the line for a double to bring in Coppock. He then scored when Grant’s grounder went into left for a single. Dupree flied to left for the first out and Bariola walked but the inning ended when Taylor bounced into a 4-6-3 doubleplay.
Dupree took over on the mound and fanned the first batter he faced but the next batter singled to left and went to second when the ball got by Taylor in left. After the runner stole third, the following batter lined a ball to right where Bariola snared it on a hop and fired to first where Greiner made a nice stretch to get the force out. After issuing a walk, Dupree recorded a swinging strikeout to give Bryant a 12-1 run-rule win.
Ryan Taylor
