PETAL, Miss. — Though their first game was a little rough, the Bryant 9-year-old All-Stars bounced back in their second pool-play game on Thursday to earn a victory at the Cal Ripken Regional Tournament.
Bryant absorbed a 13-2 loss to Meridian, Miss., to start their visit but, against Pascagula, Miss., they forged a 6-3 win.
Bracket play for all teams is scheduled to begin on Saturday.
The Bryant team, managed by Greg Riggs with assistance from Adam Rauth, Tim Trusty and Chris Pringle, includes Cannon Chalmers, Carson Dozier, Gunner Frazier, Austin Hastings, Cooper Hatman, Lynden Johnson, Hunter Markham, Paxton Pringle, Max Rauth, Jaxon Riggs, Drew Tate-Lee, Landon Thornton and Jackson Trusty.
Bryant 6, Pascagula, Miss., 3
Trailing 3-2, Bryant rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fourth as the time limit ran out, earning the victory.
The comeback began with a single to right by Dozier. He stole second then scored when Hastings singled to left.
With one out, Trusty belted a double to center, chasing home Hastings with the go-ahead run. Johnson singled Trusty to third. He scored on a passed ball then Tate-Lee’s knock to center made it 5-3. Another passed ball allowed Johnson to score making it 6-3.
Markham drew a walk to load the bases, but the time limit expired, and Bryant had its win.
Each team had scored a run in the first. After Pascagula grabbed the lead on a double steal, Bryant got things going with a walk to Markham and another to Riggs. Markham stole third then scored as Riggs swiped second. He stole third too and scored a go-ahead run on a passed ball as Dozier was drawing a walk.
That lead held until Pascagula scored twice in the top of the third.
Bryant was retired in order in the bottom of the third but then Pascagula went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth, leading to Bryant’s game-winning rally.
Meridian, Miss., 13, Bryant 2
Meridian hit Bryant’s Stars with seven runs in the top of the first inning and never relented. Bryant was held to three singles, one each by Hastings, Thornton and Tate-Lee.
Meridian took advantage of seven walks with 10 hits including two doubles and two triples.
After the seven-run outburst, Bryant got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Markham walked, stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored when Riggs grounded out to third.
Meridian got that run back in the top of the second and, again, Bryant countered. Thornton’s one-out single to right got the inning going. He took second on Trusty’s groundout. Tate-Lee bounced a single up the middle to pick up the RBI.
Down 10-2, Bryant threatened in the bottom of the fourth on Hastings’ single and two-out walks to Frazier and Tate-Lee. But a strikeout ended the inning.
