HARRISON — There was another shutout and another win for the Bryant 9U All-Stars at the 2016 Cal Ripken 9U Southwest Regional Tournament on Friday.
Coming off the shutout work of Eli Berry in the morning, Carter Brown and E.J. Keith combined to blank the Siloam Springs All-Stars on Thursday afternoon as they improved to 2-0 in pool play.
The Bryant 9’s, managed by Brad Chism, include John Thomas Allen, Brayden Beenken, Gavyn Benson, Eli Berry, Carter Brown, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Preston Howlett, Landon Jackson, E.J. Keith, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout and Hudson Thomason.
Pool play continues on Friday when Bryant takes on Mountain Home at 10:45 a.m.
Brown blanked Siloam on three hits over the first four innings, walking just one and striking out five. Keith relieved in the fifth and retired all six batters he faced, five on strikeouts.
At the plate, Keith and Jackson each had two hits. Speer and Keith each drove in a pair of runs.
A five-run third broke open a scoreless contest. Chism instigated the uprising by waiting out a walk. Beenken sacrificed him to second then a wild pitch got him to third. Brown drew a free pass and stole second before Heidelberg walked to load the bases for Benson. He walked as well, forcing in a run. Speer came through with the clutch blow, lining a single to center that plated two runs.
With Benson racing to third, Speer was able to steal second then follow him home on Keith’s double.
In the fourth, Jackson singled, advancing to second on an error. He took third on Howlett’s grounder to second. After Chism walked and swiped a bag, a passed ball allowed Jackson to score, making it 6-0.
Siloam Springs picked up a single to start the bottom of the first then managed another base-runner in the second on a hit batsman. Benson worked around a single and a double with one out in the bottom of the third. A strikeout and a pop to Speer at third ended the threat.
A hit batsman and a walk occurred with one out in the bottom of the fourth but, again, Benson and Bryant escaped after a pop to Speer and a grounder to Keith at first.
Keith took over on the mound in the bottom of the fifth and struck out the side. In the sixth, he fanned the first two. The final out came on a grounder to Speer at third.
