Photos courtesy of Lara James
Trailing 4-3 going into their last at-bat on Monday night, the Lee James Agency Dodgers rallied for[more] three runs then held on as the State Farm Insurance team rallied in the home fifth in a 6-5 nailbiter in Bryant Athletic Association Cal Ripken 12-and-under Blue League action at Bishop Park. State Farm team suffered the gut-wrenching loss after taking a 4-3 lead in the second.
The Dodgers’ uprising in the top of the fifth began with a single to center by Bryant Taylor. He advanced to second on a passed ball and eventually scored to tie the game 4-4. A one-out walk to Tristen Hammonds put the potential lead run aboard. Austin Cook sacrificed him to second and, with two down, Hunter Stallman reached on an error to put runners at the corners. A wild pitch allowed Hammons to score then Zack Wells singled Stallman to third, taking second on a throw that prevented Stallman from scoring. But Logan Catton followed with an RBI single to make it 6-4.
Wells tried to score on the play as well but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Jacob Coppock opened the bottom of the fifth for State Farm with a single. Coby Greiner followed with a grounder to second and, on the throw to first, Coppock took off for third. That drew an errant throw that allowed him to score, making it 6-5.
But Logan Chambers, the third Dodgers pitcher, retired the next two batters on groundouts to end the game.
The rest of the scoring was done in the first two innings of the contest. In the top of the first, Lee James Agency posted three runs. Catton walked and, with one out, Chambers doubled. Taylor reached on an error then Hunter Ulmer singled to make it 2-0. Taylor was picked off of third but Ulmer scored when Hammonds singled, Cook walked and Stallman was hit by a pitch.
Will McEntire relieved for State Farm and got out of the inning then worked around a two-out single by Chambers in the second.
In the meantime, State Farm trimmed two runs off the lead in the home first and took a 4-3 lead in the second. In the first, Coppock and Greiner ripped back-to-back doubles. McEntire bunted Greiner to third and he scored on Jaden Foster’s sacrifice fly to right.
In the second, Drake Wilkerson smacked a one-out double, advanced on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Chandler Taylor to tie it. Josh Prather kept the inning going with a walk, taking second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Coppock who had three hits in the contest.
Foster relieved for State Farm in the third and James came on for the Dodgers. Each turned in two innings of shutout relief. Chandler Taylor took over for Foster and Chambers for James in the fifth.
