MAUMELLE — The Bryant Blue League 13-year-old team captured the championship of a tournament in[more] Maumelle over the weekend, sweeping five games including the title game, 8-4, over Magnolia.
The team includes Logan Allen, Beaux Bonvillain, Drew Brown, Jake East, Jeffery Hastings, Dylan Hurt, Austin Kelly, Hayden Knowles, Garrett Misenheimer, Aaron Orender, Jake Roedel, and Alex Shurtleff.
The team opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over the AB Bambinos then won twice over the Rawlings RiverDogs, 4-2 and 3-0. In the semifinal, Bryant eased to a 9-1 win over Elite to set up the championship battle with Magnolia.
Bryant 8, Magnolia 4
A five-run second inning put Bryant in the driver’s seat and, after a rough start, Shurtleff and his defense made it stand for the victory.
Shurtleff struck out the first two batters of the game but a walk and a two-run homer gave Magnolia the early edge. Magnolia loaded the bases but Shurtleff got out of the jam with his third strikeout.
Bryant took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning when East was hit by a pitch and stole second. He advanced on a grounder to the right side by Hurt and scored on a base hit by Shurtleff. Misenheimer singled to right and, with two down, Kelly drew a walk. A base hit by Hastings drove in two.
Magnolia tied it in the top of the third and threatened to regain the lead but, again, Shurtleff forced them to strand runners in scoring position inducing a groundout to East at short.
The breakout home second began with a one-out double by East who stole third and, after Hurt and Shurtleff walked to load the bases, Misenheimer picked up the RBI when he was hit by a pitch. With two down, Kelly, Hastings, Orender and Allen came through with run-scoring hits to make it 8-3.
Magnolia trimmed a run off the margin in the fourth on a quartet of walks but Shurtleff forced them to strand three with a pair of strikeouts. Magnolia went down in order in the fifth. Time ran out on the game in the bottom of the fifth after hits by East, Hurt and Shurtleff had produced a run.
Bryant 9, Elite 1
Bryant broke open a close contest with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth highlighted by extra-base hits from Allen, Shurtleff and Misenheimer.
Hurt picked up the win on the mound, working into the top of the fourth then picked up relief help from Shurtleff and Bonvillain.
Bryant took a 1-0 lead in the second when Knowles singled, was sacrificed to second by Kelly, stole third and scored on a base hit by Hastings.
In the third, Hurt walked, advanced on a groundout by Shurtleff and scored on a two-out double by Misenheimer.
Hurt had Elite shutout on three hits until the fourth when a double, a single and a walk produced a run that made it 2-1. Shurtleff relieved and got the final out on a grounder to third for a force and Bryant responded with the big inning.
It began with consecutive singles by Kelly, Hastings and Orender. Allen then lashed his double into left-center. With one out, Hurt beat out an infield hit setting the stage for Shurtleff’s triple to clear the bases. Misenheimer’s second double made it 8-1. After Knowles walked, Kelly moved the runners up and Hastings singled in the final tally.
Bonvillain hit the first batter he faced in the top of the fifth but came back with a strikeout. The next better bounced into a force at second then the Bryant hurler closed it out with his second punch-out.
Bryant 3, Rawlings RiverDogs 0
Misenheimer and East combined on a five-inning no-hitter and Bryant pushed across runs in the first, third and fourth innings on the way to the victory.
In three innings, Misenheimer walked four and struck out six. Two of the free passes came in the third when the RiverDogs got runners to second and third only to have them stranded when the sixth strikeout ended the inning. In the second, a one-out walk was erased when the Hornets pulled a 1-3-5 doubleplay.
East fanned two in the fourth around a two-out walk. In the fifth, a lead-off walk was wiped out when East started a 1-6-3 twin-killing.
Bryant took the lead in the bottom of the first when Hurt and Misenheimer cracked doubles.
In the third, Hurt single to left-center and scored on a long double by Misenheimer.
The third run came when Hastings was hit by a pitch to start the fourth. He stole second and eventually scored.
Bryant 4, Rawlings RiverDogs 2
A three-run second erased a 2-0 deficit and Bryant tacked on an insurance run in the fourth as Kelly and Orender combined to shutdown the RiverDogs after a rugged first inning.
The RiverDogs took advantage of a couple of walks with a single and a groundout to get their two runs in the opening inning. But with a potential third run at third, Kelly ended the inning with a strikeout.
Bryant’s second-inning eruption started with a walk to Kelly and, with two out and a 3-2 count, Hastings came through with an RBI double to right-center. He stole third and Brown drew a walk and swiped second. Hastings scored and Brown went to third on a wild pitch then Bonvillain walked and stole second ahead of a two-run double by Roedel to cap the inning.
The RiverDogs threatened in the top of the third but a one-out hit was erased when Bryant picked the runner off first. That proved key when a pair of walks followed. But Kelly induced a tap back to the mound to end the inning with the 3-2 edge intact.
Orender relieved in the fourth and retired all six batters he faced.
Bryant’s padding in the fourth came on a single by Misenheimer, a walk to Knowles and, after a double steal, a squeeze play with Orender making contact to pick up the RBI.
Bryant 5, AB Bambinos 0
Hurt, Bonvillain, Kelly and Shurtleff all had a hand in the three-hit shutout. Hurt allowed a one-out single in the second. Bonvillain took over in the third and worked around a pair of walks then pitches through a one-out single in the fourth. Kelly struggled with his control and walked a pair around a single in the fifth but Shurtleff came on to strike out the side to leave the bases loaded and preserve the shutout.
Bryant took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single by East, a stolen base and a double by Hurt.
Another run scored in the second. Knowles singled and swiped second. He advanced on an infield hit by Kelley and scored on a groundout by Hastings.
A walk to Bonvillain started the third. He stole second and raced home on a double by Allen to make it 3-0. An RBI single by East brought Allen around.
Hastings tripled to start the fifth and scored on a base hit by Brown to set the final score.
