SHERWOOD — Bryant 8-year-old All-Stars opened the state tournament in Sherwood with two easy wins on Friday.
In the opener, Bryant used the long ball to beat Stuttgart 12-1. After taking a 2-0 lead on sacrifice flies by Nathan McFarland and Will McEntire in the first inning, they added four more in the second to take a 6-1 lead. In the bottom of the third, Garett Nguyen hammered a three-run home run over the fence in right-center with two outs to make it 9-1. One inning later, McFarland capped the scoring by smacking a three-run shot of his own to left-center.
In the second game against El Dorado, Bryant scored five in the first, the key plays being an RBI single by Cade Dupree, a two-run double by McEntire and a single by Nguyen. In the bottom of the second, Ryan Lessenberry and Sawyer Holt ignited a six-run outburst as they both started the inning by reaching on bunt singles and were followed by singles from Triston Day, Logan Chambers, Dupree, McEntire, and Nguyen.
The Bryant 8-year-olds play their next tournament game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11.
