By Rob Patrick
BRYANT, AR — As tune-up games go, Monday's regular-season finale went pretty well for the Bryant Hornets baseball team. Three pitchers including starter Caleb Milam, who was making his first varsity appearance since April 14, got some work in and combined on a four-hitter; senior Tyler Sawyer got a night off to rest the leg he tweaked on Saturday at Pine Bluff; and the Hornets reached double digits in runs scored for the fourth time in the last five games.
They also flashed some leather. Caleb Garrett in center, Hunter Mayall at third, Kaleb Jobe at short and, later with Jobe on the mound, Jordan Taylor at short all made fine plays. It was the Hornets second consecutive errorless effort.
The 11-1 win over Lake Hamilton also kept their momentum going. The fifth win in a row and 10th in the last 12 games makes them 22-7 going into the Class 7A State Tournament which begins Friday in Fayetteville and Springdale. With the championship of the 7A-Central Conference, the Hornets will open at noon on Saturday at Springdale's Randall Tyson Center against the survivor of a Friday game.[more]
The only exception to all that good stuff was the end of a couple of impressive streaks for Jobe. Coming into the game, he had hit safely in 16 straight games and reached base in every game in which he'd played this season. He went 0-for-4 on three groundouts and a strikeout on Monday. The silver lining may be that he can now relax at the plate and not worry about keeping the streak going at State.
Now, Garrett has the longest hitting streak on the team. His double in the sixth inning Monday extended his run to 13 games in a row.
Beyond the loss, the tune-up for Lake Hamilton was useful as well. The Wolves worked four pitchers into the game and it only got out of hand after a delay for a nearby lightning strike during the first at-bat in the bottom of the sixth. At the time, Bryant held a 4-1 edge. When play resumed, the Hornets piled up seven runs for the run-rule win.
The Wolves are the No. 3 seed from the 6A-South Conference and will open play at State in North Little Rock on Friday.
Along with Garrett, the hot hitters for the Hornets continued to be Hunter Mayall, Brennan Bullock and Justin Blankenship. All three had two hits apiece. Blankenship drove in three with a triple and a double. Bullock drove in two including the game-ender.
"Justin is the one kid that has improved every dad-gum week," declared head coach Kirk Bock. "He's worked hard and done a great job."
Lake Hamilton held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the second. In the top of the inning, Chris Oldner and Cory Jackson cracked doubles to produce the Wolves' run, two of only three hits Milam gave up in his three frames of work. His rust showed a bit in his control. He walked three but, with the bases juiced with two out in the third, he worked a fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff to get out of the jam for finish on a high note.
With one out in the bottom of the inning, Blankenship shot a liner to right-center that Lake Hamilton center fielder Tauno Vannucci got to but dropped. Blankenship hustled into second and, after a wild pitch, scored on Bullock's single up the middle. Moments later, with Bullock on the run, Brady Butler pulled a double into the left-field corner. Bullock came all the way around to score, giving the Hornets a 2-1 edge.
After Milam worked out of the jam in the top of the third, Bryant added to the advantage. Chris Joiner spanked the first of his two hits with one down. Mayall followed with a shot off the pitcher's foot for a single. Both moved up on Jobe's tap to third then Blankenship sent a laser down the right field line for a two-run double to make it 4-1.
Jobe relieved in the fourth and worked around a double then retired the side in order in the fifth. Ben Wells took over in the sixth and retired the side on just 13 pitches to set up the big home half of the inning.
Bullock was at the plate with a 2-2 count when the lightning detector went off indicating a strike within 20 miles. After a 30-minute interruption, play resumed with Bullock swinging through a pitch in the dirt but reaching first when the catcher couldn't retrieve the ball and throw to first in time.
A passed ball got Bullock to second as Butler drew a walk. A wild pitch put runners at second and third for Tyler Brown who came through with a single up the middle to chase them home. After a pitching change, B.J. Ellis drew a walk and Garrett rapped his double into the left-field corner to drive in pinch-runner Evan Jobe and courtesy runner Jonathan Wade.
Joiner brought Garrett home with a bloop double into shallow right, making it 9-1. Two outs later, Blankenship drove a 1-0 pitch to the deep recesses of right-center for an RBI triple. Bullock followed with a single to bring him home with the game-ending run.
Bryant's JV also was victorious with Blake Davidson pitching a two-hit shutout in a 3-0 win that was highlighted by some fine defense from Jonathan Wade.
BRYANT 11, LAKE HAMILTON 1
Wolves Hornets
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Bradshaw, 2b-p 3 0 0 0 Garrett, cf 4 1 1 2
Daniels, lf 2 0 0 0 Joiner, dh 3 2 2 1
Vannucci, cf 2 0 0 0 Mayall, 3b 3 1 2 0
Fortner, dh 2 0 1 0 K.Jobe, ss-p 4 0 0 0
Curry, c 1 0 0 0 Blankenship, rf 4 2 2 3
Proffit, ss-p 2 0 0 0 Bullock, lf 4 2 2 2
Young, 2b 0 0 0 0 Butler, 1b 2 1 1 1
Oldner, 3b-p 3 1 1 0 Brown, 2b 3 0 1 2
Walker, p-3b-1b 2 0 1 0 E.Jobe, pr 0 1 0 0
Jackson, 1b 2 0 1 1 Ellis, c 2 0 0 0
Runyan, ss 0 0 0 0 Wade, cr 0 1 0 0
Wilson, rf 2 0 0 0 Milam, p 0 0 0 0
Taylor, ss 0 0 0 0
Wells, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 21 1 4 1 Totals 29 11 11 11
Lake Hamilton 010 000 — 1
BRYANT 022 007 — 11
Two out when game-ending run scored.
E—Vannucci. LOB—Lake Hamilton 5, Bryant 5. 2B—Oldner, Jackson, Blankenship, Garrett, Joiner. 3B—Blankenship.
ip r er h bb so
Lake Hamilton
Walker (L) 2 2 0 2 1 1
Oldner 2 2 2 3 0 2
Proffit 1 3 3 2 1 2
Bradshaw 0.2 4 4 4 1 1
Bryant
Milam (W, 3-1) 3 1 1 3 3 1
Jobe 2 0 0 1 0 1
Wells (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 0 1
HBP—Joiner (by Proffit). WP—Milam 2, Walker, Proffit 2. PB—Curry 2.
R Mayall
Just a note to all the players and coaches, great job and finish in the conference. I feel like we are peaking at the right time with three more games to go. With a little luck, great play and everyone encouraging each other we can make this ride a great one.
Best of Luck!!!