By Madison McEntire
The Bryant 14-year-old All-Star team squared off against the Bryant Everett Black Sox Junior American Legion team at Bryant High School Field in a tune-up game for the Babe Ruth State State tournament in Lonoke beginning July 10. The Black Sox started quickly and held on for an 8-6 victory.
The 14-year-old All-Stars 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.
The Black Sox squad, managed by Jimmy Parker, was made up of Jeffery Hastings, Myers Buck, Brandon Hoover, Preston Kyzer, Matthew Sandidge, Scott Schmidt, Ethan Thompson, Grayson Prince, Alex Thompson and Boston Heil.
Coppock led off the game with a bunt single against Hastings and advanced to second as Chambers reached on a Sox error. After Grant flied to left, Dupree grounded a single to right and Coppock slid home in front of the tag to give the All-Stars a 1-0 lead. Bariola’s groundout to second put two runners in scoring position but they were stranded when Taylor bounced out to first.
The Sox quickly took a 4-1 lead in their first at-bat. After Coppock retired Hastings on a foul pop to first, Buck singled to right and Hoover was hit by a pitch. Kyzer then dumped a double just inside the right field line to score Buck and then Sandidge’s grounder to second plated Hoover. After hitting Schmidt, Coppock gave up a single to Ethan Thompson to score Kzyer. The final run crossed the plate when Schmidt scampered home on a wild pitch.
Hastings allowed a leadoff double to right-center to Greiner to start the second inning but escaped trouble when the retired the next three, a pop to second by Catton and strikeouts by Holt and Lessenberry.
Coppock struck out Hastings to begin the bottom of the second and then Buck singled and was caught stealing for the second out. However, a walk to Hoover and three consecutive singles by Kyzer, Sandidge, and Schmidt made the score 5-1 before Coppock ended the inning by getting Ethan Thompson to fly out to center.
Hastings retired the All-Stars in order in the top of the third getting Coppock on a grounder to second, Chambers on a grounder back to the mound and Grant on a foul pop to the catcher.
In the bottom of the inning, Greiner took over for Coppock and the Sox added another run to their lead. Prince led off with a single on a chopper up the middle, went to second on a passed ball and to third on an errant pickoff attempt to second. After Alex Thompson struck out and Hastings drew a walk, Buck bounced out to the Catton at second with Prince scoring on the play.
Dupree led off the fourth with a solid single up the middle and was bunted to second by Bariola. Taylor’s groundout to short moved Dupree to third and he later scored on a wild pitch. Greiner doubled on a fly down the leftfield line and a came around to score on consecutive wild pitches to make the score 6-3. Walks to Catton and Holt put two on but Hastings got out of trouble by inducing Lessenberry to ground out to the shortstop.
McEntire came in to pitch the fourth for the All-Stars and Kyzer lined his first pitch down the line in right for a single. After Sandidge struck out on a ball in the dirt, Schmidt walked on a 3-2 pitch and Ethan Thompson struck out swinging for the second out. Prince singled in the hole to Grant at shortstop to load the bases and an error by Chaffin at third brought a run in. Hastings drew a walk on a full-count pitch to make the score 8-3 before McEntire fanned Buck to end the inning with the bases loaded.
In the top of the sixth, Prince took over on the hill for the Black Sox. Coppock led off with an infield single to short and Chambers reached on an error. With Grant at the plate, a wild pitch moved both runners up before a wild pitch on ball four scored Coppock, advanced Chambers to third and let Grant gallop all the way to second.
With Dupree batting, another wild pitch brought in Chambers and moved Grant to third. Dupree then singled on a fly that fell in front of the diving right fielder to score Grant and make the score 8-6. After a wild pitch moved Dupree to second, he advanced to third on King’s groundout to second. Taylor attempted to squeeze Dupree home from third but did not get the bunt down and Dupree was tagged out in a rundown for the second out. Taylor grounded to third to end the inning.
The Sox went quickly in the bottom of the fifth. Hoover smacked McEntire’s first pitch for a fly to Greiner in left and Kyzer singled for his fourth hit of the game, Sandidge grounded hard to Catton at second for a 4-6-3 doubleplay to end the inning.
The All-Stars also went down quickly in the top of the sixth. Greiner bounced out to second. Tipton, hitting for Catton, walked on four pitches but Chaffin, hitting for Holt, bounced to Hoover who tagged the bag and fired to second where Tipton was tagged for the final out.
Grant came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and needed just 10 pitches to retire the side. Schmidt flied to right and then Heil, batting for Ethan Thompson, grounded to Dupree at first with Grant covering the bag for the putout. Grant got Prince swinging to end the frame.
The All-Stars went down in order in their final at-bat as McEntire grounded to first, Coppock struck out and Chambers bounced out to third.
