The Bryant 7-year-old Cal Ripken All-Stars won two out of three games at the Landers Invitational 8-and-under tournament held at Bishop Park over the weekend. On Saturday, the team defeated the 7-year-old team from the Little Rock Junior Deputy program, 9-2, then edged Sylvan Hills (Cress), 3-1. On Sunday, they ran into eventual tourney runner-up, the 8-year-old Junior Deputy team and was ousted 11-8. The Junior Deputy 8’s lost in the finals to the Bryant 8’s.
The tourney was a tune-up for Bryant, which plays in the South Arkansas State Tournament July 4-9 at El Dorado.
The Bryant 7’s are J.T. Allen, Brayden Beenken, Gavyn Benson, Carter Brown, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Drake Holland, Landon Jackson, E.J. McCoy, Andrew Schroeder, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout and Hudson Thomason. The team is managed by Brad Chism with assistance from coaches Jeff Jackson, C.J. Brown and Patrick Schroeder.
Bryant 7’s 9, Junior Deputy 7’s 2
Stout had three hits with Heidelberg, Allen, McCoy and Speer adding two each. Benson had three runs batted in.
Bryant took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Heidelberg cracked a triple and scored on Allen’s single. After McCoy cracked a base hit to center, Thomason delivered the second run with a sacrifice fly. Stout’s base hit set the stage for Benson’s RBI single to cap off the scoring in the inning.
Junior Deputy got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning and it stayed 3-1 until Bryant tacked on a run in the fourth on doubles by Stout and Speer.
The Little Rock team picked up a second run in the bottom of the fourth but Bryant put the game away with one in the fifth and two in the sixth. Beenken singled to center to open the fifth. Heidelberg reached on an error and Allen beat out an infield hit to load the bases. The run scored when McCoy bounced into a force at second and beat the return throw to first to avoid the inning-ending doubleplay.
Jackson started the three-run sixth with a single. Stout doubled him to third and both scored when Benson hit a grounder to short and was thrown out. Speer doubled and Chism singled him in with the game-clinching run.
Bryant 7’s 3, Sylvan Hills (Cress) 1
With the game tied 1-1, Bryant managed a run in the fourth and another in the fifth while holding Sylvan Hills to forge the win.
Heidelberg had two of Bryant’s seven hits.
Bryant scored in the bottom of the first when Heidelberg singled, took second on an error, stole third and scored when McCoy grounded to first.
Sylvan Hills pulled even in the top of the third on a double and a two-out triple.
McCoy led off Bryant’s fourth with a single to center. Though he was forced at second on Thomason’s grounder. Jackson got Thomason to second with a tap in front of the plate then Stout belted an RBI double to snap the tie.
In the fifth, an errant throw to first allowed Speer to reach second and, with one out, he scored when Chism reached on an error.
Junior Deputy 8’s 11, Bryant 7’s 8
After falling behind 9-3 in the first three innings, Bryant put together a five-run fourth to give itself a chance. But Junior Deputy extended the one-run margin with a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth and held on after Thomason led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. A line-drive doubleplay ended the game.
JD took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but Bryant scored twice in the home half to take a lead. Heidelberg singled and went to second on a throwing error. Allen rapped a base hit to right to drive him home. An error allowed Allen to sprint to third and he scored from there on McCoy’s single.
A four-run second put Junior Deputy in the driver’s seat. Bryant answered with a run in the bottom of the second to stay within striking distance. Benson and Speer singled and Brown’s grounder was booted to allow the run.
The four-run third pushed the lead back out to 9-3 for Junior Deputy.
Bryant’s rally in the fourth began with a double by McCoy. He took third on a groundout by Thomason and scored on a single by Jackson. Stout followed with a base hit and Benson reached on an error. Speer, Brown and Chism cracked consecutive singles to make it 9-8. The inning ended with the tying run at third.
