Everett Sox dismiss Benton to open Zone tourney
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).
SHERIDAN — Right-hander Alex Shurtleff set down the first 11 batters of the game and wound up with a three-hit shutout as the Everett Black Sox Junior American Legion team opened up defense of their 2013 State championship with a 10-0 win over the Benton Panthers Junior team on Saturday.
The Sox advanced in the double-elimination Zone 4 tournament which will produce four entries in the Junior State Tournament, which will be held at Burns Park in North Little Rock starting next weekend. Their second-round game will be Sunday at noon, against the winner of this evening’s contest between the Little Rock Eagles and Ashdown.
Sox catcher Dylan Hurt went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in including a two-run single to end the game in the bottom of the sixth. Logan Allen went 2 for 3 and scored three times, while Connor Tatum went 2 for 2 with a pair of sacrifices and three runs scored.
Everett improved to 24-6 overall this season.
It was the fifth time the Sox and the Panthers tangled this season.
“I was telling the guys, we’ve played them four times but I only remember one,” related Black Sox manager Tyler Brown. “That’s when that kid (Benton pitcher Alex Graves) went out there and he shoved it pretty good.”
Graves pitched the Panthers to a 6-3 win over the Sox in the first game of a doubleheader on June 18.
“I’ve been preaching just hit a fastball,” Brown said. “He’s got a good change-up and a good breaking pitch but I thought we did a good job of laying off those two pitches and hitting the fastball and hitting it hard. I thought we did a good job of getting him out of the game.”
Bryant scored two in the first, two in the third, four in the fifth and the two clinching runs in the sixth.
Shurtleff wound up striking out seven, six during the stretch of 11 in a row to start the game. He issued a walk with two down in the top of the fourth then another to lead off the fifth. The latter was to Graves but when Troy Quinn lined out to Tatum at second, he was able to double up the Panthers’ base-runner.
Westin Riddick then broke up the no-hitter with a sharp single to left. Shurtleff took it out on the next hitter by recording his seventh strikeout.
The right-hander only needed 64 pitches to finish six innings. That included a six-pitch sixth in which the Panthers managed two hits. But the first, by Ty Callahan, was erased by a 5-4-3 twin-killing. The second, by Drew Chilton came to naught when Shurtleff got Timmy Bennett to fly to left to end the inning.
“Shurt is going to go out there and fill it up,” Brown noted. “He’s going to throw a breaking pitch for a strike. He’s going to let us work. He’s not going to walk a lot of people.
“I will say that was one of his best performances, probably top three, top four,” he continued. “We expect that from him every time he goes out there. He’s our number one guy and, when he’s on the bump, we expect to win.”
Benton helped the Sox offense a little early. With the loss to Graves and the Panthers in mind, the Bryant batters were aggressive early. Allen swatted a single to right then Tatum got a sacrifice bunt down that Bennett couldn’t field cleanly. And when no one covered third, Allen hustled over.
Moments later, Tatum left first early and forced Graves to balk, allowing Allen to score. A passed ball enabled Tatum to take third and he scored on a Hurt’s sacrifice fly to right.
The two-run third for the Sox began again with Allen stroking a single, this time up the middle. Tatum again got the sacrifice bunt down but this time Benton got the out at first. With two down, Hurt came through with a grounder into the hole at short that Chilton fielded with a lunge. An ill-advised throw to first was late and wild allowing Allen to score and Hurt to take second. Hunter Oglesby battled Graves, fouling off three two-strike pitches before lacing an RBI single to left to plate courtesy runner Aaron Orender to make it 4-0.
Graves hit Allen with a pitch to start the four-run fifth. After Allen stole second, Tatum’s bunt went for a single. He stole second as well and Garrett Misenheimer cracked a single to right to make it 5-0.
A wild pitch allowed Tatum to score. Hurt singled Misenheimer to third and he scored from there on a passed ball but only after he took a line drive off his right arm off the bat of Oglesby. After checking on his teammate, Oglesby fanned but Graves was replaced by Ross Carver.
Jordan Gentry greeted the new hurler with a sacrifice fly to center, extending the lead to 8-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Jake East beat out an infield hit and, with one out, Tatum singled up the middle. Misenheimer drew a walk to load the bases for Hurt who ended it with a knock to left.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Brown stated.
BRYANT EVERETT 10, BENTON 0
Panthers ab r h bi Black Sox ab r h bi
Lane, cf 3 0 0 0 Allen, cf 3 3 2 0
Chilton, ss-p 3 0 1 0 Tatum, 2b 2 3 2 0
Bennett, 3b 2 0 0 0 Misenheimer, 1b 3 1 1 1
Whitaker, rf 2 0 0 0 Hurt, c 3 0 1 1
Graves, p-2b 1 0 0 0 Orender, cr 0 2 0 0
Quinn, c 2 0 0 0 Gentry, 3b 2 0 0 1
Riddick, 1b 2 0 1 0 Kelly, dh 1 0 0 0
Carver, 2b-ss-p 2 0 0 0 Coleman, rf 3 0 0 0
Callahan, lf 2 0 1 0 East, ss 3 1 1 0
Shurtleff, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 19 0 3 0 Totals 23 10 10 6
Benton 000 000 — 0
Bryant 202 042 — 10
One out when game-ending run scored.
E—Bennett, Chilton. DP—Bryant 2. LOB—Benton 3, Bryant 5. SB—Kelly, Allen, Tatum. S—Tatum 2. SF—Hurt, Gentry.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Benton
Graves (L) 4.1 8 4 7 1 3
Chilton 0.2 0 0 0 0 0
Carver 0.1 2 2 3 1 0
Bryant
Shurtleff (W) 6 0 0 3 2 7
Balk—Graves. HBP—Allen (by Graves), Kelly (by Chilton). WP—Graves 2, Carver 1. PB–Quinn 2.
