MOBILE, Ala. — The Westside All-Stars of Mobile, Ala., whether in 7-and-under, 8-and-under or 10-and-under Cal Ripken Regional Tournament play, made headaches for the Bryant All-Stars on Sunday.
For the Bryant 8’s, their showdown with the home-standing Westside team came in the second round of a single-elimination bracket. It was a heartbreaker for Bryant, which rallied from 3-0 and 6-5 deficits to score two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead.
Just two outs from defeat, Westside rallied with a pair of doubles and a three-run walk-off homer to stun Bryant, ending their Regional championship bid.
The Bryant team, managed by Rick Brown with assistance from Jacob Hunter, Seth Hyder and Mike Abrahamson, includes Mason Abrahamson, Luke Bowden, Brady Brown, Dax Drake, Tagan Dunn, Garrett Hill, Evan Hill, Wyatt Hunter, Keller Hyder, Ethan Kelley, Austin Markham, Isaac McCormick and Crews Thomason.
Bryant put itself in position to win in the top of the sixth when Kelley singled, was sacrificed to second by Hyder and scored on a double by Abrahamson to tie the game.
Markham blooped a single that didn’t allow Abrahamson to advance. But Thomason bunted for a hit and the bases were loaded the Dunn, who grounded into a force at second, beating the return throw to first to avoid an inning-ending doubleplay as Abrahamson scored to make it 7-6.
Bryant retired the first batter in the bottom of the seventh before Westside rallied for the win.
Westside had taken a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. In the fourth, Kelley singled with one out and Hyder legged out a bunt hit. Both tagged and advanced on Abrahamson’s fly to center then Markham’s single got Kelley home. Hyder tried to score as well but was tagged out at the plate.
After avoiding a Westside threat in the bottom of the fourth, Bryant rallied to take the lead in the top of the fifth. With two down, Bowden reached on an error. The bad throw allowed him to get to second. Drake beat out an infield hit then Hunter’s single drove in a run to tie the game.
Evan Hill’s double put Bryant ahead then McCormick singled in Brown to make it 5-3.
Again, however, Westside answered. They put together their own two-out uprising that was aided by a pair of Bryant errors. The game went to the sixth with Westside ahead 6-5.
