Pitching highlights BHS diamond debut
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).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
Though they only managed five hits against some erratic pitching, the Bryant Hornets put up eight runs against some erratic pitching while six of their own hurlers pitched three-hit shutout ball over six innings in an 8-4 victory over the Pine Bluff Zebras in a pre-season game at Bryant High School Field on Thursday, Feb. 14.
Lefty Trent Daniel, the Hornets top returning pitcher, was the first of those on the mound and struck out the side around a two-out walk. And he contributed two of the five hits for the offense including an RBI double.
The Hornets were set to officially open the season on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at home against the Lake Hamilton Wolves.
Bryant’s second pitcher, Tyler Sawyer, struck out the first two he faced then surrendered a single and a walk before getting out of the second inning. Kaleb Jobe worked a 1-2-3 third, Jeremy Burge retired the side around an error in the fourth and Drew Ransdell pitched around a two-out single in the fifth. Preston Adami retired the first two he faced in the sixth then a single and a throwing error had runners at second and third. But Adami induced a pop up to end the inning.
In the seventh, sophomore Ben Wells took awhile to get his bearings in his first high school appearance. He gave up a double, a single and hit two batsman. An error contributed to the four runs that Pine Bluff managed but Wells found his groove after that and got the last two outs on strikes, needing just seven pitches.
The Hornets took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jake Jackson reached second on an error, took third on Sawyer’s bouncer to the right side and scored on a two-out single by Cody Walker.
In the second, Daniel led off with a base hit to center, was sacrificed to second by Justin Blankenship, took third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch before Nick Suggs singled up the middle.
Two errors and two walks contributed to two more runs in the fourth. In the fifth, Jobe, who was on base three times, led off with a triple to the fence in right-center. After walks to Daniel and Ransdell, Jackson hit a grounder to short that produced an errant throw to second, allowing Brennan Bullock (running for Jobe) and Daniel to score, making it 6-0.
Jobe walked with two outs in the sixth and, again with Bullock running, a run scored on Daniel’s double to center.
The Hornets tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of walks and a pair of wild pitches.
