Hornets dismiss IMG Academy of Florida
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 continue 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).
TAMPA, Fla. — Dylan Hurt, Justin Emmerling and Harrison Dale combined on a one-hit shutout and the Bryant Hornets, using their junior varsity line-up, pinned a 9-0 loss on the highly-regarded team from IMG Academy, a tuition-based baseball school based in Bradenton, Fla.
It was the third win of the day for Bryant’s varsity/JV at the Tampa Bay Spring Training Classic, a event featuring teams from around the country. The Hornets were set to play again on Thursday.
Nick Kerhees went 3 for 3 with two runs batted in and Blake Patterson added a pair of hits.
The Hornets staked out a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Jason Gentry lined a single to left and courtesy runner Drew Tipton sprinted home on a triple by Patterson. Austin Kelly’s two-out double chased in Patterson.
Hurt, who retired the side in order in the first, issued a walk in the second but a groundball to Connor Tatum at second turned into a doubleplay that erased the base-runner.
Bryant’s third inning produced four more runs with Gentry initiating the uprising with another walk. With Tipton running, Patterson laced a single to right and Hurt was struck by a pitch, loading the bases. Kelly produced a run with a sacrifice fly. Tatum followed with another to get Patterson home.
Logan Allen walked and when Jake East’s pop to second was misplayed, C.J. Phillips, running for Hurt, crossed the plate. Allen hustled to third on the play and then scored when East left first early and got caught in a rundown long enough for the run to count.
IMG managed its lone hit with one out in the bottom of the third, a bloop single to center. But the sophomore right-hander fanned the next two batters to keep it 6-0.
Emmerling set down IMG 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth, setting up Bryant’s clinching outburst.
Hurt lined a single to left to open the fifth. Phillips stole second and third and, after walks to Tatum and Allen, came home when East bounced into a force at second. That set up Kehrees, who shot a single to right to drive in a pair, making it 9-0.
Emmerling eased through the home half of the inning then Dale set down the side in the sixth. In the seventh, he issued a pair of walks and hit a batter but picked one of those runners before inducing a grounder to Kehrees at third for the final out.
