Photos courtesy of Val Nagle
BENTON — The Bryant All-Stars have advanced to the semifinals of the Cal Ripken Southwest[more] Regional 6-and-under T-Ball Tournament with wins on Sunday over the Bryant 5’s and the Van Buren 6’s. The team is set to take on the Sylvan Hills All-Stars this evening at 5 p.m. With a win, they’ll play for the Regional championship at 6:45 against the winner of the other semifinal between the Benton 6’s and the all-stars from Orange Grove, Miss.
The Bryant 5’s, after outslugging the Benton’s 5’s, 22-19, absorbed a 15-2 loss to the Bryant 6’s to end their campaign. In the second round, the Bryant 6’s whipped Van Buren 17-8.
The 6-year-old all stars include Brady Brower, Reid Catton, Clay Crawford, Gage Horn, Aiden Hughes, Dylan Hunt, Grant Johnson, Carson Kemp, Julius McClellan, Carson Nagel, Aden Palmer, Caden Stovall. The team is managed by Kevin Nagle with assistance from Chad Kemp, Jeremy Stovall and Dennis Walsh.
Bryant’s 5-year-olds are managed by Brad Chism and includes E.J. McCoy, Carter Brown, Canon Hill, Jake Taylor, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Hudson Thomason, Colt Martin, John Thomas Allen, Landon Jackson, Brody Fisher, Braxton Speer.
Details of the other Bryant 5’s games in the tournament will be added when they are made available.
Bryant 6’s 15, Bryant 5’s 2
Maximum innings of six runs each in the first two frames lifted the Bryant 6’s to their three-inning win over their younger counterparts. The Bryant 6’s actually never made an out in the game.
In the first, Horn singled then Nagle and Kemp belted doubles to make it 2-0. Hunt singled then Johnson cracked a two-bagger. Base hits by Stovall and Catton made it 4-0 then McClellan capped the inning with a two-run double.
In the second, Brower bounced a base hit to the left side of the infield. Crawford doubled, Palmer singled and Hughes belted a two-bagger. Consecutive singles by Horn, Nagle, Kemp and Hunt made it 12-0.
The Bryant 5’s managed singles by McCoy and Brown in the second then got on the board in the third. Taylor doubled then singles by Allen and Fischer brought him around. Martin bounced into a force at second then so did Heidelberg as Allen scored.
But the Bryant 6’s put the game out of reach in the third when Johnson plugged the gap in left-center for a triple and Stovall did the same. Catton doubled to make it 14-2 then McClellan singled him in to end the game.
Bryant 17, Van Buren 8
In a tight game through two innings, Bryant overcame an 8-5 deficit with max innings in the second and the third to run away with it.
Van Buren struck for four runs in the top of the first. Bryant countered with five in the bottom of the inning when Horn and Nagle doubled. Kemp and Hunt singled then, with one out, Stovall rapped a double. Catton singled to make it 4-0 then McClellan’s double put Bryant ahead.
Van Buren came back with another four in the top of the second to regain the lead but when Bryant’s Stars scored six times in the bottom of the inning, they were ahead for good.
Crawford and Palmer doubled to produce the first run of the second. Hughes singled then Horn cleared the bags with a shot to center for a triple. Nagle singled him home and scored on a double by Kemp. A base hit by Johnson made it 11-8.
Van Buren opened the top of the third with a single but Bryant pulled off a doubleplay to take the wind out of any rally hopes.
The six runs in the bottom of the third put the game out of reach. Stovall singled but was forced on a grounder to short by Catton. McClellan and Brower then ignited the inning with back-to-back doubles. Crawford then supplied the big blow of the inning, a triple. He scored when Palmer grounded out, making it 15-8.
The onslaught concluded when Hughes, Horn, Nagle and Kemp each singled.
