By Madison McEntire
JACKSONVILLE — Logan Grant threw a complete game, allowing 10 hits but just three runs, and defensive replacement Sawyer Holt made an outstanding catch in left field for the final out as the Bryant 9-year-old All-Stars beat Little Rock Jr. Deputy 5-3 in a rain-plagued game at Jacksonville’s Excel Park on Monday, July 12.
The game began on Sunday, July 11, but was suspended with Bryant leading 4-1 and runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Bryant advances to play rival Benton in the finals of the winner’s bracket on Tuesday, July 13, at a time yet to be announced.
The Bryant team is made up of Logan Chambers, Logan Grant, Nathan McFarland, Ryan Lessenberry, Cade Dupree, Coby Greiner, Logan Catton, Jake Cowell, Will McEntire, Sawyer Holt, Garett Nguyen, Hunter Mullings, and Chandler Taylor. They are managed by Michael Catton with assistance from coaches Phillip Dupree and Madison McEntire.[more]
Bryant jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Leadoff batter Catton singled to the shortstop with two strikes on him and then Chambers’ single back through the box moved him to second. McFarland grounded into a fielder’s choice with the shortstop throwing out Catton at third. Dupree walked on four straight pitches to load the bases. With Greiner at the plate, Chambers scurried home on a wild pitch and then, one pitch later, the game was delayed as it began to rain steadily. Following a delay of approximately 20 minutes, play resumed and McFarland later scored the second run of the game on a wild pitch with Lessenberry at bat.
Little Rock narrowed the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the frame. After Grant retired the first two batters on come-backers to the mound, the next batter doubled to deep left-center. A grounder to Chambers at shortstop almost ended the inning but the batter hustled down the line and barely beat the throw, with the runner on second advancing to third. He then scored on a fly ball single to center field.
In the top of the second, Bryant loaded the bases but failed to score. McEntire beat out a close play at first for a single to the shortstop and Cowell walked. After the next two batters were retired, McFarland singled sharply to the left fielder and McEntire was forced to hold at third due to a strong throw to the plate. Dupree struck out to end the threat.
Little Rock‘s leadoff batter tripled to right field in the second, yet they missed an excellent chance to tie the score. After Grant got a grounder to third for the first out, he hit the next batter but then worked out of trouble by getting the next two batters on a pop to first and a fielder’s choice from Chambers to Greiner at second.
The All-Stars stretched their lead to 4-1 in the third. Grant walked with two outs and advanced all the way to third on Lessenberry’s sacrifice bunt when Little Rock’s infield failed to rotate and cover the third base bag when the third baseman charged to field the bunt. Grant scored on the second strike to McEntire when the Little Rock catcher let the pitch go off his glove for a passed ball. Down 1-2 in the count, McEntire coaxed three straight balls for a walk and then, with Cowell at the plate, two bizarre plays allowed him to score. He advanced to second as the Little Rock catcher retrieved a wild pitch from the backstop. Since the ball was wet from rolling in the grass, the catcher casually tossed the ball toward the umpire, expecting a dry ball in return. But he had not requested time from the umpire and McEntire took third base as the umpire backed off, allowing the ball to roll away. After a visit from Little Rock’s manager, the frustrated catcher caught strike two on Cowell and then made a sharp return throw to the pitcher that sailed into center field and allowed McEntire to score from third.
Little Rock ran themselves out of a possible run in the bottom of the third. The leadoff batter singled on a grounder to left field and attempted to take second when Cowell’s throw from left sailed over Greiner’s head at second base. First baseman McFarland, alertly backing up the play, retrieved the ball and threw a strike to Chambers at the second base bag for an out. The play cost them a run as two batters later Little Rock smacked a double. Cowell snagged a fly to left for the third out which stranded the runner at second and kept the score 4-1 heading into the top of the fourth.
The drizzle that had been sporadic since the rain delay in the first turned into a heavy downpour and the umpires waved the teams off the field with and runners on first and second and one strike on Grant. When play resumed on Monday at 3 p.m. Grant laced a single to left that scored Dupree. Greiner rounded third hard, drawing a throw to the plate from the left fielder. On his way back to the bag, he was pegged squarely in the back by a throw from the catcher and fell near third base and was tagged out to end the inning before he could recover.
The lead was cut to 5-2 when Little Rock scored in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, they smacked a single to left and the ball skipped past Cowell for a two-base error that allowed the runner to score on a wild pitch two batters later.
Bryant went quietly in the top of the fifth and then Little Rock threatened again. They collected singles to shortstop and left field to open the inning. Bryant almost got out of the inning unscathed as they retired the next two hitters on a fielder’s choice from Greiner to Chambers (which advanced the lead runner to third) and a pop out to McFarland at first base, but Little Rock cut the lead to 5-3 when the batter flared a soft pop fly just over the mound that fell into between three Bryant infielders for a hit. With two runners on, Grant ended the inning by getting a swinging strikeout.
Despite McFarland reaching on an error by the pitcher and Dupree drawing a walk, Bryant failed to score in the sixth and went to the bottom of the inning needing three outs for a victory. Little Rock’s first batter reached on a throwing error by Dupree and advanced to second. Grant got the next batter to ground back to the mound for the first out, with the runner moving to third on the throw to first. The next batter popped to Greiner at second for the second out. With the tying run at the plate, the outfielders were in a “no-doubles” defense with a left-handed batter at the plate. With a 1-1 count on the batter, Coach Phillip Dupree offered his opinion that the left-handed batter “won’t hit it over Sawyer’s head in left”. Manager Catton agreed and waved left fielder Sawyer Holt in a couple steps toward the infield. Coach Dupree’s observation proved accurate as the batter lifted a sinking fly ball to left field. Holt took a step back and then raced in, lunged forward, and stabbed the ball just off the top of the grass to end the game.
