At 5:30 p.m., the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team was ready to play at Bryant High School Field while the team they were scheduled to play, Benton Gingles was ready to play at Bernard Holland Park.
Though it was eventually acknowledged that Bryant was scheduled to host, the Black Sox players, coaches and fans trekked to Benton.
Playing their sixth and seventh games in the last four days (with their eighth game on the fifth day looming on Tuesday at Cabot), the Sox, playing many of their younger players, suffered a 5-4 loss in four innings to Gingles (mostly 14-year-olds) in a time-limit game.
In the nightcap, Jacob Levart of Benton Sport Shop, a 16-and-under team, tossed a five-inning no-hitter at the Sox on the way to a 10-0 win.
It was the third time in the last three games over two days that the Sox had been shutout.
American Legion baseball can indeed be a grind some times, especially if a player or team is experiencing it for the first time as many of the Junior Sox are.
Against Gingles, the Sox fell behind 3-0 in the first inning. Logan Sullivan had the only hit for Benton in the inning, a two-run single that was followed up by a throwing error that allowed the third tally.
Bryant got on the board in the second when Austin Trimble singled past the Benton first baseman, Gannon Arnold. Ryan Taylor sacrificed him to second and, after a wild pitch, Trimble scored when Clifton Chaffin’s grounder to short was misplayed.
Right-hander Zion Collins settled in after a strikeout to end the first. He walked a batter in the second but retired the next three to keep it 3-1.
The Sox tied it in the top of the third. Cameron Palmer singled, took second on a wild pitch and reached third on Logan Catton’s infield hit. Cade Dupree picked up an RBI with a grounder to short and when Catton raced to third on the throw to first, it drew an errant return throw allowing him to score as well.
Christian Motes relieved for the Sox and worked around a lead-off single in the home third, fanning two.
A walk to Taylor opened the fourth inning. He stole second and, with two down, reached third as Aaron Morgan’s grounder to second was misplayed. Morgan stole second before Palmer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. And when Motes was plunked, it forced in a go-ahead run.
Down 4-3 with time running out, Benton rallied for the win, taking advantage of a pair of errors. A trio of walks forced in the tying run with two away. Ryan Lessenberry took over on the mound but his first pitch was blooped to left by Marshall Gollaher, driving in the winning run.
In the game against Sport Shop, the Sox’ best chance to score came in the first when Jacob Wright’s fly to center was dropped. He was sacrificed to second by Catton and, after Coby Greiner walked, a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third.
But Levart struck out the next two to escape.
He would pitch around a pair of walks in the second and an error with two down in the fourth.
Benton scored three runs in the second. Seth McDowell doubled in the first tally. Connor Pinkertson singled in a run to cap the inning.
Four more scored in the third as Benton cracked six hits, two of them on bunts. McDowell had another RBI double. Caleb Dorsey, Gary Storment and Joe Green each singled in runs along the way.
A pair of Bryant errors contributed to a two-run fourth.
A run away from the run-rule win, Benton scored on an RBI single by Levart in the bottom of the fifth.
