April 24 in Bryant athletic history: 2009

 

Hornets are 7A-Central Conference champions with 11-5 win at North Little Rock

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting 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

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Champions.

It’s really probably more than anyone should’ve expected, considering the Bryant Hornets only had two starters returning from a team that won 16 games the previous season, finished tied for third in their league and lost in the opening round of the Class 7A State Tournament.

But sometimes, as the old saying goes, you catch lightning in a bottle.

The Hornets came into Thursday’s game at DeJanis Memorial Field at DeSalvo Stadium in Burns Park, needing a win to clinch at least a tie for the league title. They faced the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats, one of the two teams with which they were in a virtual tie for first. The Wildcats, too, were authors of the Hornets’ worst loss of the season, 11-4, at Bryant on March 31.

So, when senior Tyler Sawyer found his groove on the mound and the Hornets took advantage of three North Little Rock errors with six hits in a six-run fifth, they were on their way to doing just what they needed to do, winning 11-5.

And, lo and behold, they got some help. The last-place Russellville Cyclones (whom the Hornets found out just a week or so ago have been playing very well lately) stunned the Conway Wampus Cats (the other team tied for first), 12-7, leaving the Hornets alone at the top, champions of the 7A-Central Conference.

North Little Rock dropped into a three-way tie for second with Conway and Little Rock Catholic pending games on Friday. Van Buren will complete a game against Catholic then play North Little Rock at DeJanis Field. Conway visits Cabot on Tuesday, April 28.[more]

For Sawyer and fellow seniors Justin Blankenship, Kaleb Jobe, Austin Queck and Jonathan Wade, it’s just as new as it is to the freshmen and sophomores on the team. It’s Bryant’s first league title since 2005.

“It feels really good,” Sawyer sighed. “It’s all the better because it’s my last chance to do it.”

Sawyer, who was the starter in the loss to North Little Rock in March, struggled a bit early but then retired 10 in a row and 11 of 12 during his six-inning stint in which he struck out seven, walked just one and scattered seven hits.

“He stepped up,” declared Bryant’s first-year head coach Kirk Bock. “And I’m telling you, the dugout was unbelievable. If you can’t get pumped up with those cats behind you, you don’t have a pulse. They certainly rose to the occasion. When we came in, I hadn’t said anything (like usual). Then, after pre-game, I said, ‘You noticed I haven’t said anything. You know, if you can’t get pumped up and excited about this game, you don’t have pulse, so just get it done. And, I tell you, I listened to Jonathan Wade in the dugout. He has a key role for us. And he was saying, ‘Man, I’ve been waiting on this game all dad-gum day.’ When you get these guys on the bench and the courtesy runners excited like that, good things are going to happen.”

“I was just going to let my defense work for me,” Sawyer said. “I knew I wasn’t going to strike everybody out. We figured out what (the North Little Rock batters) were looking for early in the count. They were taking the first-pitch curve ball. So we were just grooving it in there until they got two strikes on them.”

Offensively, Blankenship had a big night with three hits and three runs batted in, including a two-run triple in the third inning that put the Hornets ahead to stay. Caleb Garrett and Chris Joiner each had two hits as did Kaleb Jobe, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Hunter Mayall, who was 1-for-3, had his streak of reaching base safely end at 11 plate appearances in a row. During that stretch he had eight hits and three walks. He reached the first two times to the plate but then flew out to left to snap the string. But he came back with a walk at a key moment in the decisive six-run fifth.

A hidden factor in the win too, beyond the obvious impact he’s had on the team this season, should be credited to Bock for being so diligent in rescheduling rained out conference games. The Hornets were working on the original schedule while North Little Rock, showing a little of the taxation on its pitchers, was playing the third of four league games this week. They’d lost to Cabot, 7-2, on Monday, edged Little Rock Central on Tuesday and will host Van Buren on Friday hoping to hang onto second place and gain the first-round bye at State that goes to the second seed as well as the top seed.

By the way, Bryant will open State tournament play at noon on Saturday, May 2, at the Randall Tyson Sports Complex in Springdale where half the games in the first two rounds will be played. The other half will be played at Fayetteville High School with the championship at Baum Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus Friday, May 8. Bryant will play the survivor of the Friday, May 1, game between the No. 4 seed from the 7A-West and the No. 5 seed from the 7A-Central. (Any one of four teams could still be the Central’s fifth seed.)

Thursday’s game started like it would be a battle of attrition. After the Hornets were unable to take advantage of a single and a pair of walks in the top of the first, North Little Rock took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a bloop double by A.J. Williamson and a pair of groundouts. Andrew Hohn’s bouncer to Brady Butler at first brought home the run.

Bryant tied it in the second when Sawyer reached on an error, Blankenship sacrificed Wade, the courtesy runner, to second and Brennan Bullock’s one-hop shot to second was misplayed. When the ball ricocheted into the outfield, Wade scored.

Tyler Brown and Butler were each hit by pitches after that by North Little Rock starter Will Sandefur but the right-hander steadied himself and retired the next two to leave them loaded.

David Stracener singled and Cody Grace walked to start the bottom of the second. Sawyer struck out David Hohn then got Johnny Pounders to hit a fly to right-center that was picked up by the strong cross breeze preventing Blankenship from getting to it before it dropped. Stracener scored and when the relay was off line to the plate, Grace followed to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.

That’s when Sawyer found his stride and started the stretch in which he set down 10 straight.

And the Hornets got him the lead in the top of the third. Mayall singled to center and Jobe walked to set the table. Sawyer got a bunt down that Sandefur fielded. He wielded and fired to third trying to get the lead runner only to have it sail out of the reach of David Hohn. Mayall scored to make it 3-2. Two pitches later, Blankenship got into an inside delivery. His long fly down the right-field line might’ve gone out had it not been into the wind. As it was, it landed right at the foul line beyond the reach of Pounders in right. Two runs scored and Blankenship had a triple that gave Bryant a 4-3 advantage.

North Little Rock’s coaches argued that the ball had landed foul but to no avail.

Sandefur struck out the next two and, after a walk, fanned a third to strand Blankenship at third.

But Sawyer continued to mow the Wildcats down and, in the fourth, David Hope relieved for North Little Rock and pitched around a double by Jobe.

So, it stayed 4-3 until the tell-tale fifth that started with Blankenship’s second hit, a single up the middle. Bullock sacrificed him to second and a wild pitch got him to third. On a 1-2 count, Tyler Brown whacked a high fastball into left to drive in the run and the hit parade cranked up.

Butler doubled and Hope gave way to Kody Gill. With the infield in, Garrett drove a worm-burner that got past Grace at short for an error that allowed both Brown and Butler to score. Joiner beat out a slow roller to third and when the ball was kicked, Garrett hustled into the unoccupied bag. A walk to Mayall loaded the bases and a walk to Jobe forced in a run to make it 8-3. Sawyer singled to plate Joiner but Mayall was thrown out at the plate. Blankenship then finished what he started with an RBI single to make it 10-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sawyer string was snapped by a two-out single by Williamson but he retired Brittan Ibbotson on a bouncer to first to end the inning.

Lefty Zach Robinson relieved for the Charging Wildcats in the sixth and issued a one-out walk to Butler and singles to Garrett and Joiner. But Mayall slapped a liner back at the pitcher who scooped it up and threw to first for a doubleplay. There was a dispute about whether Robinson had caught the ball before it had hit the ground but to no avail. The doubleplay ended the inning.

Consecutive singles by Andrew Hohn and pinch-hitter Ryan Scott gave North Little Rock some life in the bottom of the sixth. Sawyer steadied himself and retired the next two including Grace on strikes before David Hohn singled to left to trim a run off the margin. Sawyer, however, tracked down a pop foul by Pounders outside the first-base line to end the frame with runners at the corners.

Bryant countered in the top of the seventh off Stracener, the fifth Wildcats pitcher. Jobe singled, Sawyer sacrificed and, with two down, Bullock singled him home.

Ben Wells relieved Sawyer in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, he walked Williamson who proceded to steal second and take third on a wild pitch then scoring on an errant throw. Wells fanned Ibbotson, however, and, after a single by Andrew Hohn, got Hayden Byrd to bounce out to second to end the game.

“We put the ball in play,” Bock emphasized. “We didn’t strike out much (four times) and we made them field it and throw it, and it didn’t happen for them all the time. And we had 14 hits.”

The win improved Bryant to 20-7 overall. The Hornets are set to play at Pine Bluff at 1 p.m. on Saturday then host Lake Hamilton on Monday at 5 in advance of heading to State.

The Hornets JV was also victorious with Austin Benning cracking a three-run home and Matt Neal picking up the win on the mound.

BRYANT 11, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 5

Hornets Charging Wildcats

ab r h bi  ab r h bi

Garrett, cf 5 1 2 0 Williamson,2b 3 2 2 0

Joiner, dh 4 1 2 0 Ibbotson, lf 4 0 0 0

Mayall, 3b 3 1 1 0 A.Hohn, cf 4 0 2 1

Jobe, ss-c 3 3 2 1 Gill, dh-p 2 0 0 0

Sawyer, p-ss 3 0 1 1 Robinson, p 0 0 0 0

Wade, cr 0 2 0 0 Scott, ph 1 0 1 0

Blankenship, rf 4 1 3 3 Byrd, 1b 1 0 0 0

Bullock, lf 4 0 1 1 Stracener, 1b-p3 1 1 0

Brown, 2b 4 1 1 1 Grace, ss 2 1 0 0

Butler, 1b 1 1 1 0 D.Hohn, 3b 3 0 1 1

Ellis, c 0 0 0 0 Pounders, rf 3 0 1 1

Wells, p 0 0 0 0 Cormier, c 2 0 0 0

Whitlock, ph 1 0 0 0

Sandefur, p 0 0 0 0

Hope, p 0 0 0 0

Totals 31 11 14 7 Totals 29 4 8 3

BRYANT 013 060 1 — 11

North Little Rock 120 001 1 — 5

E—D.Hohn 2, Williamson, Butler, Sandefur, Grace, Ibbotson. DP—North Little Rock 2. LOB—Bryant 12, North Little Rock 5. 2B—Williamson, Jbe, Butler. 3B—Blankenship. SB—Pounder, Blankenship, Williamson 2. S—Blankenship, Bullock, Sawyer 2.

ip r er h bb so

Bryant

Sawyer (W, 6-2)  6 4 3 7 1 7

Wells 1 1 1 1 1 2

North Little Rock

Sandefur (L) 3 4 2 3 4 4

Hope 1.1 3 1 4 0 0

Gill 0.2 3 3 3 2 0

Robinson 1 0 0 2 1 0

Stracener 1 1 1 2 0 0

HBP—Brown, Butler (by Sandefur). WP—Hope.