By Madison McEntire
ZACHARY, La. — The Bryant 9-year-old All-Stars began bracket play in the 2010 Cal Ripken Southwest Regional tournament on Sunday, July 25, with a 19-0 thumping of the host team in a game that was delayed for approximately 20 minutes in the bottom of the first inning due to lightening.
Bryant will next play the All-Stars from Orange Grove, Miss., on Monday at 7 p.m.
The Bryant team is made up of Logan Chambers, Logan Grant, Nathan McFarland, Ryan Lessenberry, Cade Dupree, Coby Greiner, Logan Catton, Jake Cowell, Will McEntire, Sawyer Holt, Garett Nguyen, Hunter Mullings, and Chandler Taylor. The team manager is Michael Catton and the assistant coaches are Phillip Dupree and Madison McEntire.[more]
McEntire stepped to the mound in the top of the first for Bryant and made quick work of the Zachary batters, without a single pitch even being fouled off. He fanned the leadoff batter on three pitches and needed just four to strike out the next hitter. After giving up a walk, he whiffed the cleanup hitter to end the inning.
With the beginning of bracket play, the rule of scoring a maximum of six runs per inning was waived. Bryant took advantage as they sent 17 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs against a Zachary pitcher who, according to his coach, had thrown just one inning all season. Leadoff batter Catton was hit by a pitch, then Chambers drilled a line shot directly to the center fielder who snared it for the first out. The Zachary pitcher then struggled to find the plate with his pitches and he walked the six batters with nine of the tosses being wild pitches, which allowed the Bryant runners to circle the bases almost at will. The number nine batter, Lessenberry, stepped in the box with the bases full and finally got a pitch to hit. He singled on a fly to left that scored Greiner.
The top of the order was back up. Catton and Chambers each walked with the bases loaded, forcing in two more runs before McFarland lined a single to left that plated Lessenberry. With the sacks still full, Dupree smashed a hard grounder up the middle to score Catton and Chambers. Grant singled to center and the ball got by the outfielders, allowing McFarland and Dupree to score and Grant to advance all the way to third when the throw in was off line. Zachary finally brought in a new pitcher, but the new hurler began by walking Greiner. He then got McEntire to pop to short and struck out Cowell.
In the top of the second, McEntire faced just three batters. He got a ground ball back to the mound and a grounder to shortstop for the first two outs before getting his fourth strikeout of the game to end the inning.
With a large lead against an out-manned team, Bryant displayed good sportsmanship for the remainder of the game by advancing base runners only on batted balls and not taking extra bases on hits. Holt, hitting for Lessenberry, led off with a grounder to shortstop that he beat out for a hit. Taylor batted for Catton and drew a walk. Chambers reached to load the bases when the left fielder dropped his fly ball. Mullings subbed for McFarland and walked to bring Holt in to score. Dupree lofted a fly to center that was dropped for an error that scored Taylor. Nguyen came into the game in Grant’s spot and was hit by an 0-2 pitch, which plated Chambers. On the next pitch, Greiner popped up and the umpire invoked the infield fly rule for the first out.
McEntire received yet another free pass for Bryant, with Mullings crossing the plate. Cowell lined a ball to right on what normally would have been an extra base hit but the runners moved up just one base, with Dupree scoring on the play. Holt popped up and again the umpire ruled it an infield fly, with the result being the second out of the inning. Taylor was next and he chopped a ball to the third baseman, who snagged it and tagged McEntire as he was advancing to third. The inning was over but Bryant had added five runs and their lead had ballooned to 17-0.
Greiner replaced McEntire as the Bryant pitcher in the top of the third. He whiffed the first batter he faced but then walked consecutive hitters. Another strikeout made it two down but then he plunked a batter to load the bases. Greiner then got a ground ball to Chambers near the second base bag. He flipped to Mullings for the third out to keep the shutout intact.
In the bottom of the third with the game in hand, Bryant had a little fun. Zachary brought in a new pitcher and the left-handed hitting Chambers turned around and batted from the other side of the plate. On the first pitch, he stroked a grounder to short and beat it out for a hit. Mullings lined a single to center field. Dupree, taking a cue from Chambers, turned around and batted from the left side, but the result was not the same as he struck out swinging at three straight pitches. Nguyen yanked a hard shot down the left field line for a double that scored Chambers and put Mullings on third base. Greiner grounded to second for the second out with Mullings scoring and Nguyen moving to third. McEntire ended the inning when he hit a chopper back to the pitcher, who noticed Nguyen straying too far off the bag and tossed the ball to the third baseman, who tagged Nguyen as he scrambled back.
In the top of the fourth, Zachary’s first batter reached when the umpire ruled that McEntire did not hold the first base bag when he stretched to catch Dupree’s throw from third. The next batter grounded back to Greiner on the mound who threw to first for the out as the runner advanced to second. Greiner struck out the next hitter before issuing a four-pitch walk to put two runners on. He then threw a ball on the first pitch to Zachary’s number nine batter, who then ended the game by looking at three consecutive strikes.
