Bryant AA breaks out, wins big behind Kling
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Kaleb Kling tossed a two-hit shutout over five innings and the Bryant Black Sox AA American Legion team took some of their frustration out on the Benton Everett Infiniti Cardinals Junior Legion team on Tuesday with a 14-0 win.
The Sox came into the game off an 0-3 showing in the Peoples Bank Wood Bat Classic in Sheridan over the weekend so they were on the hunt for a win. They got a romp.
Kling helped his own cause with a 2-for-3 night at the plate. He drove in a run and scored twice. Jacob Coppock and C.J. Wallace each had two hits as well as the Sox took advantage of eight walks, six wild pitches and four passed balls with their 10 hits. Eight different Bryant players drove in runs with Coppock and Noah Record each plating a pair.
The secret on the mound for Kling was throwing strikes. He threw just 47 pitches in the game and only had two three-ball counts along the way. The first resulted in a strikeout to lead off the second inning. The second resulted in his lone walk, which came with two outs in the top of the fifth when he was just an out away from completing the whitewash. Moments later, he got Christian Young to ground out to Cade Dupree at first to end the game.
Benton’s lone hits were a one-out single by Sean Small in the second and a one-out single in the fourth by Dawson Ross. The Cards never got a runner past second.
Kling needed just six pitches to work through the first inning. In the home half, the Sox took a 2-0 lead. Daniel Darbonne reached on a one-out error and Coppock drilled a single to right. Darbonne stole third and, when the pitch was boxed by the catcher, Coppock moved up to second on the play. A walk to Myers Buck loaded the bases.
Darbonne scored on a passed ball and, after Diego Vargas walked to fill the sacks again, Dupree got Coppock home with a sacrifice fly to center.
Small’s single and a two-out hit batsman extended Kling in the second but he fanned two in the inning and got the final out on a fly to Vargas in right off the bat of Hayden Clay.
The Sox tacked on an unearned run. Kling singled and stole second with one out. He went to third when Darbonne reached on a third-strike wild pitch with two away. Darbonne stole second and drew an errant throw, which allowed Kling to score to make it 3-0.
The right-hander needed just four pitches to retire the Cards in the third. Bryant followed with a game-breaking six-run outburst in the bottom of the inning. Buck’s bloop single to right got things started. He advanced on a passed ball and, with one out, Dupree walked.
The duo worked a double steal with Wallace at the plate. On a 1-2 pitch, Wallace was jammed and got only enough to pop the ball up on the infield. The ball didn’t get very far off the ground but fell right into no-man’s land for an infield hit. Buck and Dupree had to hold at second and third so the bases were loaded then Shawn Tingley drew an RBI walk.
Kling’s solid single to left drove in Dupree and, with two down, Darbonne worked a walk to force in a run. After a pitching change, Tingley scored on a wild pitch before Coppock ripped a double to right, driving home Kling and Darbonne to make it 9-0.
In the fourth, the Sox got five more. This time, Vargas ignited the outburst with a single to right. He went to second on a wild pitch then stole third as Dupree walked. A wild pitch got Vargas home and Dupree to second. Wallace slapped a single to left to drive him home.
Tingley walked and a wild pitch put runners at second and third. With one down, Jeffrey Hastings drew a walk to load the bags and force another pitching change.
Kyle Kling’s comebacker resulted in a force at the plate but Alex Thompson singled in a run and Record yanked a double down the left-field line to knock in the last two tallies.
The Sox are set to return to action on Thursday, June 30, with a doubleheader at Sheridan.
