EDITOR’S NOTE: All Bryant area youth teams are welcome to submit scorebooks or GameChanger links with rosters to rob@bryantdaily.com to post game reports.
BENTON — A Bryant 9-year-old baseball team swept four opponents to capture the championship of the second leg of the Wally Hall Tournament over the weekend.
E.J. Keith was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
E.J. Keith was named the tournament’s most valuable player as the Bryant team, coached by Brad Chism, Jeff Jackson and Brad Benson, defeated the Benton 9’s, 6-5, in the championship game on Sunday, April 10.
The members of the team are John Thomas Allen, Brayden Beenken, Gavyn Benson, Carter Brown, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Landon Jackson, E.J. Keith, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout, and Hudson Thomason.
To get to the title game, the Bryant team edged d1 Baseball, 8-7, and the Saline County Barons, 4-2, on Saturday. On Sunday, they defeated the Spa City Legends, 10-1, to set up the championship battle.
Bryant 9’s 6, Benton 9’s 5
Leading 6-3, Bryant held off a Benton rally in the top of the fifth to hang on for the tense victory. An error, a hit batsman, a passed ball and a two-run double had Benton within 6-5 with no one out.
Stout relieved for Bryant and struck out the first batter he faced. After a walk, a groundout had the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. An intentional walk loaded the bases and set up a force at every base. Stout induced a pop to Jackson at second to end the game.
Benson had two hits to lead Bryant at the plate. He had a double and Thomason contributed a triple along the way.
Benton grabbed a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first two innings. Bryant tied it in the bottom of the second when Thomason ripped his triple to right and scored on Benson’s base hit. After Benson stole second, he took third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
Keith, who started on the mound for Bryant, worked around a hit batsman and an error in the top of the third then his teammates gained the lead in the home half. Jackson was struck by a pitch with one out and stole his way to third. He scored on a groundout by Speer.
Benton tied it with a single, a steal and a two-out knock.
Bryant’s fourth started with Thomason getting drilled with a pitch. He stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored when Benson cracked his double to right.
After a pitching change, Benson scored on a grounder to short by Stout.
With two down, Bryant picked up what proved to be the difference maker. Chism and Beenken each singled and, after Allen walked to load the bases, Jackson worked a walk to force in the run.
Bryant 9’s 10, Spa City Legends 1
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Bryant scored six in the home half and wound up winning in four innings.
Brown had two hits for the victors and Keith drove in two runs. On the mound, Benson allowed one unearned runs on four hits over three innings. He fanned three. Jackson relieved in the fourth and retired the side in order.
Spa City’s run was a result of an error, two steals and an infield hit. Bryant’s outburst started with walks to Allen and Jackson. Both eventually scored on wild pitches.
Speer started things up again with a single. After advancing on a passed ball, he sprinted home on a double by Keith. Heidelberg singled him in to make it 4-1.
Thomason singled Heidelberg to third and, from there, he scored on a groundout by Stout. Thomason followed on Brown’s single.
Bryant added a run in the second. Allen, Jackson and Speer each walked then Keith picked up the RBI with a groundout.
Benson walked with one out in the third. He stole second and scored on a single by Stout. After another steal, Brown singled him in to make it 9-1. Brown stole his way to third and after Beenken walked, a double steal produced the final run.
Bryant 9’s 4, Saline County Barons 2
Keith, Brown and Hudson each pitched a scoreless inning as Bryant built a 2-0 lead. The Barons scratched out a run in the bottom of the fourth but Bryant scored twice in the top of the fifth and held off a rally in the bottom of the inning.
The pitcher’s duel included just four hits, two for each team.
In the bottom of the fifth, a walk and a passed ball had a Barons runner at second with two outs. An error allowed the runner to score but when the batter tried to reach second, he was thrown out to end the game.
Bryant put the first run on the board in the second. Keith reached on an error, took second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a third-strike wild pitch.
In the third, struck out but reached when the third strike got away from the Barons catcher. He stole second and third then scored on a wild pitch with two down.
Saline County got on the board in the home fourth on a single, a walk, a wild pitch and a foul pop that resulted in the plate being left uncovered.
The key fifth-inning uprising for Bryant began with Benson cracking a single to center. He stole second, took third on Stout’s groundout and scored when Brown bounced out to second.
Chism drew a walk and Beenken was hit by a pitch. The duo worked a double steal and when Allen singled, Chism scored to make it 4-1 setting up the dramatic finish.
Bryant 9’s 8, d1 Baseball 7
Bryant scored five times in the top of the first then had to hang on at the end again in a time-limited game that went three innings.
The game ended with the potential tying run at third. Bryant led 8-5 going into the frame. A single, a passed ball, a steal and a third-strike wild pitch allowed d1 to score then two steals and a groundout made it 8-7.
A walk put the potential tying run aboard. A steal and a passed ball got him to third before a groundout to Brown at short ended the game.
Thomason led Bryant on offense with two hits.
The game-opening salvo was set up by walks to Allen and Speer around Jackson getting hit by a pitch. An errant pickoff throw allowed Allen to score but Jackson was thrown out trying to get to third on the play. Keith singled in Speer to make it 2-0.
A balk sent Keith to second as Heidelberg earned a walk. Thomason singled to load the bases for Benson who cracked a two-run single to center. Stout singled in Thomason to make it 5-0.
D1 used a pair of walks and an error to get two runs in before the home first was over.
Bryant got one of those runs back in the top of the second. Allen singled and Jackson sacrificed him to second. Speer beat out an infield hit and when the late throw to first got away, Allen scored.
A three-run rally in the home second had d1 within a run. Down 6-5, d1 had runners at second and third with one out but Speer got a strikeout and induced a grounder to Thomason at second to escape with the lead.
Bryant’s two-run third began with a Thomason single. He advanced on Benson’s tap back to the mound. Thomason stole third and, after Stout walked, the duo worked a double steal to get a run in. Stout took third on a wild pitch then scored when Brown’s grounder to second was misplayed, making it 8-5.
