LONOKE — The Bryant Blue League 12-and-under (46/60) All-Stars captured the championship of[more] Lonoke Dawg Fight Classic over the weekend.
The Stars dismissed the Beebe Spartans, 5-0, then downed the 11-year-old All-Stars from Little Rock Junior Deputy, 10-1, to set up the winners bracket final against LRJD’s 12’s. With an 8-2 win, Bryant advanced to the championship round. The Junior Deputy 12’s won the loser’s bracket final to get another shot at Bryant, hoping to force a winner-take-all final but Bryant’s Stars finished them off with a 13-5 win to take the title.
Team members for Bryant are Myers Buck, Konnor Clontz, Caleb Dorsey, Joe Green, Boston Heil, Sawyer Holt, Zach Kemp, Chandler Taylor, Ethan Thompson, Hunter Ulmer, Zach Wells. The manager is Keith Thompson. He’s assisted by coaches Jason Holt and Dalton Holt.
The team opens State tournament play this Friday at Dumas.
Bryant 13, Little Rock Junior Deputy 5
Bryant broke out to a 5-0 lead in the first then broke the game open with a seven run third on the way to the tourney crown.
The game was highlighted by Thompson’s grand slam over the 202-foot mark in left-center during that seven-run uprising.
The opening blitz started with a single by Green and a walk to Buck. Dorsey, Kemp, Thompson, Heil and Clontz followed with consecutive hits and Taylor squeezed in a run to make it 5-0.
Buck, the starter for Bryant, retired Junior Deputy in order in the top of the inning. Little Rock posted a pair of runs in the top of the second but Buck helped tack on a run in the bottom. His one-out single and stolen base set the table for Kemp’s two-out RBI double, making it 6-2.
Little Rock came to life in the top of the third, scoring twice more to trim the margin to 6-4.
That’s when Bryant put the game on ice. Clontz walked and stole second ahead of a single by Taylor who swiped second. Both scored on a single by Wells to right.
Green kept the inning going with a single to center then Buck walked to load the bases. Dorsey’s free pass forced in a run and, an out later, Thompson unloaded for his slam to make it 13-4.
Little Rock used a hit batsman, a single, a force out and another hit to plate a run in the fifth before Buck induced a grounder to second to end the game.
Bryant 8, Little Rock Junior Deputy 2
Dorsey and Heil combined to limit Junior Deputy to four hits including three of them in the two-run third. Heil relieved in the fourth and issued a lead-off walk then struck out the side. He fanned one more in the 1-2-3 fifth to close it out.
As in the championship game, Thompson belted a grand slam to spark the victory. This time, the blast came in the first inning. Buck had singled to center with one out then Dorsey beat out an infield hit and Kemp walked to set the table.
In the second, Wells walked and, an out later, Buck singled. The duo pulled off a double steal and, with two out, Kemp beat out an infield hit as Walls scored.
After Junior Deputy trimmed the lead to 5-2 in the third, Bryant got a double from Ulmer and a walk to Wells but could not add to the advantage.
The Stars held Little Rock in the fourth and, before the time limit hit in the bottom of the inning, added three more runs. Buck’s third hit, a single started the inning. Dorsey reached on an error and, an out later, Thompson cracked a single to load the bases for Heil, whose double drove in two.
Thompson scored the final run when Clontz grounded out to short.
Bryant 10, Little Rock Junior Deputy 11’s 1
This game was called by the Little Rock coach in the middle of a Bryant surge in the top of the fourth. Already up 7-1, the Stars had scored three times on singles by Green and Buck, a double by Dorsey and a two-run triple by Kemp when the game was concluded.
Bryant had taken a 4-0 lead in the first when Green started the game with a triple. Buck got him home with a grounder to third but then Dorsey doubled, Kemp walked and Thompson ripped a two-bagger to drive in a run. With two down, Clontz capped the inning with a double.
In the bottom of the inning, Junior Deputy’s 11’s were able to load the bases but the inning ended when the lead runner tried to score on a pitch in the dirt, got caught in a pickle and was tagged out.
Dorsey, the Bryant starter, struck out two while setting down the side in order in the second. Little Rock managed a run in the fourth on three walks and a single but Kemp, the Bryant catcher, and Buck, at short, combined to retire the runner between second and third to end the inning.
In the meantime, Bryant picked up three runs in the top of the third. Dorsey doubled and, an out later, Thompson singled. With two down, Clontz doubled and Taylor singled to bring in the runs.
Bryant 5, Beebe Spartans 0
Heil and Buck combined on a one-hit shutout as the Stars opened the tournament. Heil retired six of the first seven batters, five on strikes. The only baserunner came on a one-out walk in the second.
In the third, Buck struck out the side around a one-out hit batsman. The lone hit came with one out in the fourth, an infield hit. But Buck struck out the next two. He surrendered a one-out walk in the fifth but Bryant turned a 6-4-3 doubleplay to end the game.
The game was actually scoreless through three innings. A one-out walk to Thompson in the fourth started a three-run uprising for Bryant. After he stole second, Heil banged an RBI double off the fence in left-center. Clontz beat out a bunt hit and when Beebe held Heil at third, he hustled into second.
Walks to Taylor and Wells forced in a run then Clontz scored when Taylor was picked off.
Buck walked and Dorsey singled to start a two-run fifth. After a double steal, Kemp drove in a run with a groundout and Thompson plated the final tally with a base hit up the middle.
