NORTH LITTLE ROCK — One rally was answered by another on Tuesday night and the Bryant Black Sox 15U American Legion team wound up with just its second loss of the season as the North Little Rock Colts eked out a 5-4 win at Burns Park’s DeJanis Field.
The Sox rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, but North Little Rock came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the upper hand.
Bryant gave itself a chance to pull out the win in the top of the fifth when Justen Myles coaxed a lead-off walk then Reid Catton dropped in a double in left.
Two strikeouts followed, however, before Brady Brower came through with a lined single to right that got Myles home and Catton to third. Brower stole second to put the potential tying and lead runs in scoring position, but a groundout ended the game.
Catton went 2 for 2 in the game as the Sox used five hits to take advantage of four walks, four hit batsmen and an error. But the Sox had four miscues in the field including a key one in the bottom of the fourth with two outs that allowed a pair of runs to score, snapping a 3-3 tie.
The Sox took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Carson Kemp’s two-out double and Clay Crawford’s lined single to right produced the run.
Kemp, who started on the mound for the Sox, worked around a one-out walk for a scoreless bottom of the inning.
In the second, Catton was hit by a pitch and Brower reached on a two-out error as Catton went to third, but both were stranded. North Little Rock tied it in the bottom of the inning with an unearned run. An outfield error was followed by a two-out RBI single.
Again, an error played into the Colts’ go-ahead run. But Kemp retired the next two batters after the boot. The third out was harder to come by. Two singles brought the runner around to make it 2-1.
Catton ignited Bryant’s comeback in the top of the fourth with a bloop single. Conlee Billingsley was hit by a pitch and, with one out, Brower drew a walk to load the base with Michael Parker in to run for Billingsley. Brayden Beenken pinch-ran for Brower then Caden Stoval drew a walk to force in the tying run. And when Kemp was plunked by a 3-1 pitch, Parker came home to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.
Crawford’s comebacker to the pitcher resulted in a force at the plate then a strikeout ended the inning with the bases still full.
A double, a passed ball and a walk had runners at the corners for North Little Rock in the bot tom of the fourth. The Colts tried to pull off a double steal to get the tying run in but the Sox ran a cut-off play with the catcher, Brower, throwing to Stovall, the shortstop, in front of the second-base bag as the runner tried to score from third, Stovall whipped the ball back to Brower in time to nab him at the plate.
But a single followed, driving in the tying run from second.
With two out, a walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases, and, after a pitching change, the error occurred that produced the 5-3 lead.
The Sox dropped to 7-2-1 on the season going into a game at home against Cabot on Thursday.
