EL DORADO — The Benton All-Stars needed to beat the Little Rock Junior Deputy All-Stars twice on Wednesday night to capture the South Arkansas 8-and-under Cal Ripken State championship.
And that’s just what they did.
After losing to Junior Deputy 9-7 on Tuesday, Bryant forced the winner-take-all final with a 2-0 win on Wednesday evening. In the finale they built a 6-0 lead over the first three innings and held off Little Rock’s late rally for a 7-3 victory and the State title.
Both teams will compete in the Mid-South Regional Tournament, which will be held at Bryant’s Bishop Park starting July 18.
The Bryant 8’s are Garrison Blacklaw, Brady Brower, Reid Catton, Clay Crawford, Gavin Hill, Gage Horn, Aiden Hughes, Grant Johnson, Carson Kemp, Gideon Motes, Hank Penfield and Caden Stovall. They are managed by Jeremy Stovall with assistance from Michael Brower and Chad Kemp.
Bryant 2, Junior Deputy 0
In a defensive battle to open the evening, Bryant eked out single runs in the third and fifth innings while Junior Deputy couldn’t manage to put two runners on base until the fifth.
Bryant’s third inning run was scored by Hill. Hughes opened the inning with a single and Hill followed suit. Motes tried to bunt them over but Little Rock was able to get a force on Hughes at third.
Crawford kept the inning going with an infield hit, loading the bases for Penfield who hit a grounder to third. Junior Deputy got a force at third but Hill scored. Stovall followed with a single to load the bases again but Little Rock escaped further damage by recording the third out.
In the top of the fifth, Junior Deputy mustered a single and double but both runners were stranded. In turn, Bryant tacked on its second run. Johnson singled, stole second, held there as Hughes’ pop fell in for a hit then scored on Hill’s line drive single to right.
Little Rock put a runner on with a one-out single in the top of the sixth but still could not score as Bryant closed out the win.
Bryant 7, Junior Deputy 3
Junior Deputy continued to be shut out for the first four innings of the second game. Bryant took advantage to build its 6-0 lead, scoring twice in each of the first three innings.
The Little Rock team finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the fifth but Bryant got that tally back in the top of the sixth. A two-run rally in the home sixth proved to be too little too late for JD.
Hughes, Johnson and Crawford each had three hits for Bryant. Blacklaw and Hughes each drove in two runs.
Bryant re-established the momentum from the first game in the opening at-bat of the second one. Penfield smacked a triple and scored on Stovall’s single. A base hit by Catton set the stage for Blacklaw’s RBI double.
In the second, Johnson led off with a double to center. He held as Hughes beat out a grounder to third for a hit. Hill’s base hit loaded the bases and, with one out, Crawford picked up the RBI with an infield hit. Penfield’s base hit made it 4-0.
Horn tripled with one out to ignite the third inning uprising. Blacklaw singled him in but was they caught trying to steal second. Brower kept the inning going with a single to center. Base hits by Kemp, Johnson and Hughes moved Brower around with the second run, bumping the lead to 6-0.
Junior Deputy used a pair of doubles in the bottom of the fifth to break its scoring drought. In the top of the sixth, Johnson tripled and scored on a single by Hughes. It was 7-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.
By stringing together five consecutive hits, Junior Deputy scored twice in its final opportunity but could get no more.
