Early eruption sends Sox past Missouri champ at Regional
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos by Brian Anderson
Drew Tipton (28) of the Black Sox hits the ball against Post 499 Fike in Game 5 of the Mid-South American Legion Regional Tournament in Conway on Thursday. The Black Sox defeated Fike 10-1. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
CONWAY — After being shutout for the first time in 46 games this summer on Wednesday evening, the Bryant Black Sox busted loose on Thursday morning against Fike Post 499 of Blue Springs, Mo.
With both teams facing a win-or-go-home scenario in the 2015 Senior American Legion MidSouth Regional Tournament at Hendrix College’s Warrior Field, the Sox erupted for seven runs in the first inning. A quintet of pitchers, starting with three shutout innings from Blake Patterson, stopped the Missouri champion on six hits, on the way to a 10-1 victory.
Devin Dupree (4) of the Black Sox pitches against Post 499 Fike in Game 5 of the Mid-South American Legion Regional Tournament in Conway Thursday. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
Fike became the first team to be eliminated from tournament. Bryant, now 37-8-2, advances to play on Friday against the Tupelo 49ers, the Mississippi champion.
Lead-off man Drew Tipton ignited the offense with three hits, two stolen bases, a walk, a run scored and four RBIs. Patterson helped the cause with three hits including a solo homer. Brandan Warner had two hits and Jason Hastings had a clutch two-run single that opened the door for the first-inning eruption.
With the big early lead, Bryant manager Darren Hurt was able to pull Patterson, one of the mainstays of the team’s starting rotation, after just 32 pitches. Though Austin Kelly struggled a bit in relief initially, the Sox got shutout relief from Devin Dupree, Aaron Orender and Beaux Bonvillain over the final six frames.
Asked if the game went as well as he could’ve expected, Hurt said, “Better than expected. I expected to win. I expected to move on. But I also expected to lose one of our big arms for the rest of the tournament and we didn’t do that. Pat’s going to be available later on now.
Logan Allen had a bunt single in the third inning of Thursday’s Bryant Black Sox win over Fike of Blue Springs, Mo. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
“The guys did a great job early, jumping on them,” he said of his hitters. “That allows us to save arms and that’s huge at this point in the tournament.”
Dupree, who was credited with the win, used just 39 pitches while allowing just two hits over 2 2/3 innings. Though he issued a bases-loaded walk as Fike picked up its only run in the fourth, he followed up with a double-play ball that ended the threat.
Orender used 28 pitches over two shutout innings then Bonvillain closed it out with 24 pitches in the ninth, working around a lead-off walk and a one-out single. He ended in flourish, striking out the last two.
The Sox were aggressive at the plate and on the bases.
Jason Hastings delivered a clutch two-run single to get a seven-run first underway for Bryant Thursday. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
“We didn’t get the opportunity last night,” Hurt reflected. “We want to get in fastball counts and we want to take advantage of it. I think we did a great job of that early (today), maybe a little poorer job in the middle to late innings then we had a few decent at-bats late. But we’ve got to do a better job all the way, for nine innings. Really, I thought we should’ve put them away then save two more innings of pitching.”
The Sox hand a chance to end the game in seven on a run-rule. Leading 9-1, they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth on singles from Tipton and Patterson and a walk to Trey Breeding. But Fike reliever Victor Schofield got out of the jam.
Blue Springs, which had lost its opener on Wednesday, 7-6, to Louisiana, went down in order in the top of the first. Patterson didn’t appear to have any problem with the mound but, in the home half after walking Tipton, Fike starter Drake Miller expressed some trouble with the landing spot being a little gooey.
Dylan Hurt charges a grounder hit to short during Thursday’s game. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
Heavy rain delayed play for over two hours on Wednesday then, that night more storms forced the fourth game to be suspended until 8 a.m. Thursday morning. The field looked to be in great shape but, after Miller and his head coach Jim Moran asked for some work to be done, the coaches and ground crew at Hendrix obliged.
The result was a delay of 15 minutes or so and, when play resumed, the mound may have been improved but little else got better.
Warner singled to left then he and Tipton worked a double steal before Patterson walked to load the bases. Miller got Trey Breeding to fly to center, giving the Missouri team hope of escaping with no damage.
But Hastings drilled a 1-1 pitch to center for a two-run single to break the ice. Dylan Hurt bunted for a hit then Miller issued RBI walks to Logan Allen and Kelly.
Schofield relieved and got a strikeout so, once again, Fike was in position to put an end to the inning. Tipton, however, drilled a double into the left-field corner to clear the bases.
Connor Tatum takes a cut that he lined to third during Thursday’s game. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
Schofield would go on to finish the inning, throwing 127 pitches in relief. The Sox got to him for single runs in the third, fourth and eighth. In the third, Allen bunted for a hit, swiped second and, after Connor Tatum worked a two-out walk, Tipton swatted an RBI single to right to make it 8-0.
Kelly took over for Patterson in the bottom of the fourth and retired the first batter he faced before issuing three walks, a couple of close pitches. Win the run-rule possibilities in mind, Hurt turned to Dupree.
In the bottom of the fourth, Warner singled, raced to third on a base hit by Patterson then, when Fike catcher Nic Mertes threw behind Patterson at first to pick him off, Warner sprinted home to score as first baseman Cale Benson applied the tag.
Blake Patterson, right, is congratulated by Black Sox manager Darren Hurt after his eighth-inning homer. (Photo by Brian Davidson)
Dupree allowed a lead-off single to Blake Roberts in the fifth. A one-out error put two aboard but the right-hander retired the next two. A nice play by Tatum at second on a ball that was deflected by Dupree ended the inning.
In the sixth, Dupree pitched around a two-out single by Derek Case. Orender surrendered only a two-out single to Sawyer Warren in the seventh and, in the eighth, Mertes doubled to lead off for Blue Springs but he too was stranded.
In the home eighth, Patterson planted an 0-2 pitch with two down over the fence in right to make it 10-1.
Again the Sox had a chance to end it on the run-rule when Breeding reached on an error and Hastings walked but Schofield got Dylan Hurt to bounce out to second to send it to the ninth.
Bonvillain issued a lead-off walk to Tanner Lucas then balked him to second. But, moments later, he picked him off second. Roberts singled and went to second on an error only to have the Bryant lefty strike out Ethan Childress and Warren to finish it.
