Hornets take one more step towards league title by rallying past Cabot

By Rob Patrick

BRYANT, Ark. — Junior center fielder Garrett Bock played as long as he could despite a painful hip that doctors had told him wouldn't get any worse if he played, as long as he could stand the pain. A chronic problem over the years, the hip will need surgery whenever it can be scheduled.

Bock played his last game of the season on Saturday, April 18, at Sheridan.

On Monday, the starting designated hitter was a sophomore, Chris Joiner, who had earned the chance with his play during junior varsity games this season. Joiner went 1-for-3 in his varsity debut against Watson Chapel, a non-conference foe. His second start came on Tuesday in a league game against Cabot. Hopes for at least a share of the 7A-Central Conference championship were hanging in the balance for both teams. Bryant came in 8-4 in league play, atop the standings thanks to Cabot's 7-2 win over North Little Rock on Monday. The Panthers were only a game behind Bryant, North Little Rock (7-4) and Conway (7-4) in the loss column and, after knocking off the Charging Wildcats, had designs on pulling even with Bryant with a win.

And, going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Panthers held a 5-3 lead.

Bryant, of course, has proven this season its never out of a game and this was no exception. In the home sixth, Brennan Bullock, who has shown a knack for starting comebacks, slapped a 3-2 pitch from Cabot starter Andrew Reynolds into right field for a base hit to get things started. An out later, Brady Butler looped a liner to right for a base hit.

Reynolds got the second out, retiring hot-hitting Caleb Garrett on a pop to third. And that brought up Joiner in a key spot. If he could get on, the middle of the Hornets lineup, Hunter Mayall, Kaleb Jobe and Tyler Sawyer — all hitting over .400 this season — would be coming up with ducks on the pond.

Reynolds got a couple of strikes in on Joiner who also took a couple of pitches off the plate. On a 2-2 delivery, Joiner just barely got a piece to stay alive. Ball three followed then he coolly took ball four. 

That proved to be the key at-bat in Bryant's come-from-behind 6-5 win which kept them in first place and a win away from at least a share of the league title and a first-round bye in the Class 7A State Tournament (whether seeded first or second). That one win will have to come in the conference finale at North Little Rock, a team Bryant lost to 11-4 earlier in the season. A loss and they could finish as low as third and miss out on the first round bye.[more]

At 9-4, the Hornets lead North Little Rock and Conway by half a game after both won Tuesday. Conway beat Van Buren 10-2 and North Little Rock edged Little Rock Central 4-3. In the other league game, Little Rock Catholic beat Russellville 8-5. In the other games on Thursday, Conway will host Russellville, Catholic (7-5) will visit Central (5-8), and Van Buren (5-6) will be at Cabot (6-6). North Little Rock has a make-up game left at home against Van Buren on Friday and Cabot, which may be fighting to get into the State Tournament at that point, plays at Conway on Tuesday, April 28. The final standings and seedings may not be settled until after that last contest. 

On Tuesday, Joiner's walk loaded the bases for Mayall, who already had three hits in the game.

Perhaps unnerved a bit by the situation, Reynolds balked. Bullock trotted home, cutting the lead to 5-4. A pitch later, Reynolds' delivery got past catcher Ben Wainwright and Evan Jobe, running for Butler, sprinted home with the tying run as Joiner moved up to third with the lead run.

On a 1-1 pitch, Mayall slapped a hard grounder down the third-base line that Cabot's Ty Steele somehow gloved. It was the third splendid play of the night by Steele who had saved two runs in the second and another in the third with his gems. This time, however, Steele's great grab left him in a tough position to throw. His sling to first was wild as Mayall raced past first and headed to second then third while Joiner scored to give the Hornets the lead.

In the top of the seventh, Ben Wells, who relieved starter Kaleb Jobe in the top of the sixth pitching out of a two-on, one-out jam, struck out Matthew Turner. He then got Reynolds to bounce wide of first where Butler roamed to smother the ball. Butler tossed to Wells covering first just in time for the out.

The junior right-hander then closed it out with another strikeout.

It was a great way to celebrate Senior Night. Justin Blankenship, Jobe, Austin Queck, Sawyer and Jonathan Wade along with manager Chris Edwards were honored after the game. 

"We put ourselves in a position to win," observed Bryant head coach Kirk Bock. "Then we get some breaks and we're able to win. That's good. I guarantee you, you never say die with this team. The kids, the whole time, there was never any doubt in their minds that we were going to win."

Bock agreed that Joiner's plate appearance was huge. "Working him deep, deep, deep in the count and then just getting on," he noted. "That was a game changer right there. It brought up the guy that went 4-for-4. And Hunter Mayall can just flat, dad-gum hit. As long as he picks good pitches, he can just hit." 

Mayall now leads the team in hitting at .454. 

The gift runs that the Hornets received in the sixth provided a counterpart to the gifts they'd given Cabot earlier in the game. Errors played into two of the Panthers' run-scoring innings. Only two of their runs were earned.

Bryant had taken a 1-0 lead in the home first. Garrett singled to right on the first pitch of the game by Reynolds. Joiner sacrificed him to second and Mayall singled to send him to third, taking second as the throw from the outfield sailed all the way home. Moments later, a wild pitch allowed Garrett to score before Reynolds retired Jobe and Sawyer to strand Mayall at third.

Cabot tied it in the top of the second. Wainwright doubled. Matthew Turner then shot one to the right side that Bryant's Tyler Brown flagged down, throwing to first for the out as courtesy runner Zach Uhiren advanced to third. A passed ball allowed Uhiren to score but base hits by Reynolds and Tyler Erickson followed which would've pushed the run home.

Jobe kept it at 1-1 by inducing a grounder to Mayall at third for a force then getting Steele to fly to Blankenship in right.

The Hornets regained the advantage in the bottom of the inning. Bullock was hit by a pitch (for the 11th time this year) then Brown singled up the middle. With two down, Garrett came through in the clutch with a single to center, plating Bullock. With runners at second and third, Joiner pulled a hard grounder to the left side and Steele robbed him of a hit and the Hornets of two runs, getting the final out of the inning with his throw to first.

The Panthers took the lead in the top of the third. Joe Bryant beat out an infield hit but he was forced at second on his brother Powell Bryant's bouncer to third. Drew Burks singled up the middle and, with Wainwright at the plate, Jobe committed a balk to move the runners up the second and third for Wainwright. A fly to left center appeared to be deep enough for Powell Bryant to score. But the ball was ruled to have popped out of Garrett's glove in center allowing the run to score and Wainwright to reach base.

An out later, Reynolds looped a single to right. Burke scored and Uhiren followed him to the plate where Blankenship's throw from right got a way from catcher B.J. Ellis.

Jobe kept it at that, however, by getting the next batter to fly to Blankenship in right to end the inning.

The Hornets whittled a run off the lead when Mayall singled, Jobe sacrificed him to second, and Sawyer drove him home with a base hit to center.

The two hurlers settled in after that and it stayed 4-3 until the top of the sixth. Mayall robbed Erickson of a hit with a leaping catch of his line drive to start the inning. But consecutive singles by Cole Nicholson and Steele put Jobe in a jam and Bock called on Wells.

On the second pitch from the Bryant reliever Joe Bryant hit a hard grounder toward third that stayed down and got past Mayall allowing Nicholson to score. But Wells got Powell Brown to fly to Bullock in center and, after an intentional walk to Burks to load the bases and set up a force at every station, he struck out Wainwright to end the inning.

But, instead of a one-run deficit to overcome, the Hornets came to the plate two down with six outs to go. They wouldn't need all six.

Incidentally, Jobe whacked a one-out single in the fifth which extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

BRYANT 6, CABOT 5

Panthers Hornets

ab r h bi ab r h bi

J.Bryant, cf 4 0 2 0 Garrett, cf 4 1 2 1

P.Bryant, lf 4 1 0 0 Joiner, dh 2 1 0 0

Burks, rf 3 1 1 0 Mayall, 3b 4 1 4 1

Wainwright, c 2 0 1 1 K.Jobe, p-c 3 0 1 0

Uhiren, cr 0 2 0 0 Wade, cr 0 0 0 0

Turner, 1b 4 0 0 0 Sawyer, ss 3 0 1 1

Reynolds, p 4 0 2 1 Blankenship, rf 3 0 0 0

Tyler, cr 0 0 0 0 Bullock, lf 2 2 1 0

Erickson, dh 4 0 1 0 Brown, 2b 3 0 1 0

Fox, pr 0 0 0 0 Butler, 1b 3 0 1 0

Nicholson, ss 3 1 2 0 E.Jobe, pr 0 1 0 0

Steele, 3b 3 0 1 0 Ellis, c 0 0 0 0

Surdam, pr 0 0 0 0 Wells, p 0 0 0 0

Thompson, 2b 0 0 0 0

Totals 31 5 10 2 Totals 27 6 11 3

Cabot 013 001 0 — 5

BRYANT 111 003 x — 6

E—Garrett, Ellis, J.Bryant, Mayall, Steele. DP—Bryant 1. LOB—Cabot 8, Bryant 7. 2B—Wainwright. SB—Uhiren, J.Bryant. S—Joner, Jobe. SF—Wainwright.

ip r er h bb so

Cabot

Reynolds (L) 6 6 5 11 2 3

Bryant

Jobe 5.1 5 2 10 1 2

Wells (W, 4-2) 1.2 0 0 0 1 3

Balk—Jobe, Reynolds. HBP—Bullock (by Reynolds). WP—Reynolds, Wells. PB—Wightwright, Ellis.