Five-inning no-no gives Bryant Juniors sweep of Sheridan in regular-season finale
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By Rob Patrick
Dylan Cross and Jordan Taylor combined on a five-inning no-hitter to cap off a doubleheader sweep of the Sheridan Yellowjackets and the regular season for the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team.
The 1-0 win came on the heels of a 7-3 victory in the opener as the Sox finished 14-2-1. They’ve won seven in a row and 13 of their last 14 as they enter play in the District Tournament at Sheridan on Monday, July 5.
The season-ending twinbill was added to the schedule late to get some innings for the Bryant pitchers. Not only were Cross and Taylor tough but Landon Pickett and Caleb Milam pitched well in the first game though Pickett had a little trouble getting loose on a mild evening (relative to the recent heat).
And, on Monday, the Sox got good work from Quinton Motto in an 11-2 win over Hot Springs Lakeside.
“Thank goodness the pitchers were on,” stated Sox manager Darren Hurt, referring to the laconic atmosphere for the games. “We were pretty loose in the dugout. Maybe we were a little bit too loose. The first game we had a few things happen but it was kind of a sleepy night. The second game, thank goodness we got three consecutive hits (in the third inning) and scored a run or else we’d be playing all night, I guess, because our pitching wasn’t going to give anything up. Our pitchers did great.
“The goal tonight was to get those guys some work but to not throw any of them too much because we’re going to need them in Tennesse also, we hope,” Hurt added referring the Senior Sox’ trip to the Independence Day Classic in Columbia, Tenn., starting Thursday. If the Sox make it to the finals, they’ll have to have enough pitching for six games.
“We hope we go a long way and we need all of them,” Hurt added, regarding the trip.
In the second game on Tuesday, Cross worked the first three innings, pitching around errors in the first two frames.
Taylor relieved in the fourth and worked around a third error, then another in the fifth when Sheridan came close to tying the game.
Sheridan’s Landon Huggins was nearly as tough, working around a two-out walk to Chris Joiner in the first then, in the second, escaping despite a single by Cross, a hit batsman (Josh Pultro) and an error which allowed Trent Rivers to reach base. He was aided by his catcher Jake Smith, who threw Cross out trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. After committing the error that allowed Rivers to reach, second baseman Jake Crenshaw got the force for the final out of the inning on a bouncer his way by Motto.
In the third, Huggins retired the first two batters but, on a 3-1 count, surrendered a single to right by Joiner. Pickett lashed a single to center then Milam came through with a single to left that got Joiner home with what proved to be the only run of the game.
Sheridan’s bid to tie it in the top of the fifth began with a one-out error on a high infield pop that allowed pinch-hitter Wyatt Daggett to reach base. A wild pitch and an errant throw allowed Daggett to reach third as Huggins struck out. Billy Wicker followed with a push bunt that looked like it had a chance to not only go as the first Sheridan hit but get Daggett home with the tying tally.
But Motto made a nice play on the ball charging in from first. He flipped to Taylor who narrowly beat the hustling Wicker to the bag for the game-ending out.
In the opener, Trent Rivers went 3 for 3 and Tyler Brown had two hits to help the Sox to victory.
Pickett struggled with his command early, walking four but pitched out of jams while limiting the damage to just two runs on five hits over four innings. Milam relieved in the fifth and surrendered a run on four hits but walked just one and earned the save.
Pickett, who had shut out Sheridan the week before, pitched around a one-out single to his mound opponent Alec Pender in the first inning. Pender wound up with three hits in the game.
Bryant broke the seal with a run in the bottom of the inning. Evan Jobe reached on a third-strike wild pitch, stole second, tagged and went to third on Ozzie Hurt’s long fly to center then scored on a sacrifice fly by Taylor.
Pickett worked around a pair of walks in the second and his teammates added two runs to the lead. Brown singled and stole second but stayed there as Rivers beat out a bunt hit. The duo worked a double steal to put runners at second and third. With one out, Matt Neal got down a squeeze bunt as Brown scored easily. A wild pitch allowed Rivers to come home, making it 3-0.
Sheridan got on the board in the third when Justin Willis walked, advanced on Pender’s cue shot to the left side that went for an infield hit. Kurt Stinnett’s grounder to third retired Pender as he was forced at second. Stinnett got picked off b Pickett but the base-runner was able to stay in the hot box long enough for Willis to score.
Smith followed with a single but Daggett popped to Brown at third to end the inning.
In the fourth, Sheridan trimmed another run off the lead. Luke Nannemann beat out an infield hit and, after two were retired, advanced on a walk issued to Wicker. Willis slapped a 1-0 pitch down the line in right for an RBI double but, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Pickett got Pender to fly out to Pultro in right.
The Sox tacked on a run in the fourth to add some cushion. Pultro lashed a double to right-center, took third on a single by Brown then scored on a base hit by Rivers.
Milam relieved in the fifth and worked around singles by Stinnett and Daggett to keep it 4-2.
A fifth run scored for the Sox in the fifth. Ozzie Hurt walked, advanced to second on a shot to first by Taylor then scored when Milam’s grounder to third drew a wild throw to first. Pultro made a bid at another hit buy a diving catch of his liner by Wicker, the third baseman, denied him.
Milam retired the first two of the sixth with a strikeout and a popup. But Willis worked for a walk and raced to third on Pender’s single to right center. A wild pitch allowed him to score, making it 5-3.
A bad-hop single by Rivers opened the bottom of the frame. Motto reached on an error the Neal walked to fill the sacks. Jobe’s bouncer to third was handled well by Wicker, who threw to the plate for a force.
Hurt, however, drew an RBI walk on four pitches then another run scored on Taylor’s groundout.
Milam gave up a single to Daggett with one out in the top of the seventh but, moments later, he picked him off. He finished it with a strikeout.
Game 1
BRYANT BLACK SOX 7, SHERIDAN YELLOWJACKETS 3
Junior American Legion
Yellowjackets ab r h bi Black Sox ab r h bi
Willis, cf 2 2 1 1 Jobe, cf 4 1 0 0
Pender, p 4 0 3 0 Hurt, 2b 2 1 1 1
Stinnett, ss 4 0 1 0 Taylor, ss 3 0 0 2
Smith, c 4 0 1 0 Pickett, p 3 0 1 0
Daggett, 3b 4 0 2 0 Milam, p 1 0 0 0
Nannemann, lf 3 1 1 0 Pultro, rf 4 1 1 0
Crenshaw, 2b 3 0 0 0 Brown, 3b 3 1 2 0
Huggins, rf 2 0 0 0 Rivers, lf 3 1 3 1
Wicker, 3b 2 0 0 0 Motto, 1b 3 1 0 0
Neal, c0101
Totals 28 3 9 1 Totals 25 7 8 5
Sheridan 001 101 0 — 3
BRYANT 120 112 X — 7
E—Wicker, Stinnett. LOB—Sheridan 9, Bryant 7. 2B—Willis, Pultro. SB—Jobe, Brown. S—Neal 2. SF—Taylor.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Sheridan
Pender (L) 6 7 5 8 4 4
Bryant
Pickett (W) 4 2 2 5 4 3
Milam (S) 3 1 1 4 1 3
WP—Pender 2, Milam.
Game 2
BRYANT BLACK SOX 1, SHERIDAN YELLOWJACKETS 0
Junior American Legion
Yellowjackets ab r h bi Black Sox ab r h bi
Willis, cf 2 0 0 0 Jobe, cf 3 0 0 0
Pender, rf 2 0 0 0 Hurt, 2b 2 0 0 0
Stinnett, ss 2 0 0 0 Joiner, c 1 1 1 0
Smith, c 2 0 0 0 PIckett, 3b 2 0 1 0
Finley, 1b 2 0 0 0 Milam, ss 2 0 1 1
Nannemann, lf 2 0 0 0 Cross, p 1 0 0 0
Crenshaw, 2b 1 0 0 0 Taylor, p 0 0 0 0
Daggett, ph 1 0 0 0 Pultro, rf 1 0 0 0
Huggins, p 2 0 0 0 Rivers, lf 2 0 0 0
Wicker, 3b 2 0 0 0 Motto, 1b 1 0 0 0
Totals 18 0 0 0 Totals 16 1 4 1
Sheridan 000 00 — 0
BRYANT 001 0x — 1
E—Cross, Milam, Crenshaw, Nannemann, Pickett, Motto, Neal. LOB—Sheridan 3, Bryant 6.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Sheridan
Huggins (L) 4 1 1 4 2 2
Bryant
Cross (W) 3 0 0 0 0 1
Taylor (S) 2 0 0 0 0 3
HBP—Pultro (by Huggins). WP—Taylor.
