Jackson, defense make early lead hold up for Junior Sox
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By Rob Patrick
It wasn’t there at the start but once Zach Jackson found his groove, he was golden. And so were[more] the Bryant Everett Black Sox.
After scuffling through the third inning and escaping with a lead by getting a strikeout with the bases loaded and two out, Jackson retired 12 of the last 15 batters as the Sox pinned down a 5-2 win over Texarkana on Sunday. It completed a three game sweep through pool play at the second annual Ryan White Memorial Wood Bat Tournament at Bryant High School Field. The team advanced to bracket play today at 2:30 p.m., at Lakeside. With a win, they’ll play for the tourney championship at 7:30.
The only Texarkana baserunners after the third came on errors in the fifth and seventh innings and a lone walk in the fifth. Jackson struck out the side around the walk and error in the fifth.
Dalton Holt and Connor Tatum each had two hits to lead the Sox offensively. Brandan Warner and Devin Dupree drove in two runs apiece.
The Sox staked their hurler to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Drew Tipton led off with a single then Holt shot one off the pitcher that rolled into shallow left field. Tipton hustled to third. Evan Lee’s tap back to Texarkana pitcher Zach Phillips got Holt to second. Blake Patterson was then struck by a pitch to load the bases for Warner, who delivered the first of his two sacrifice flies to produce the first run. That brought up Dupree who plugged the gap in left-center for a two-run single.
Jackson pitched around a one-out single by Nick Myers in the bottom of the first. In the second, an infield hit by Steven Caple and walks to Jordan Izzo and Brady Chattaway loaded the bases with two out, but Jackson got lead-off hitter Zack Harrington to bounce out to Jordan Gentry at second to escape with the 3-0 lead intact.
In the top of the third, Holt yanked a double into the left-field corner and took third on Lee’s grounder to the right side. After Patterson walked, Warner picked up the RBI with his second sac fly, making it 4-0.
Myers opened the bottom of the third with a double then Jackson hit Brandon White with a pitch. A force at third on a grounder to Warner by Texarkana’s Braden Warner interrupted the Texarkana uprising but, in short order, Hunter McGilberry singled to load the bases and, two pitches later, Caple knocked in a run with a sharp single to left.
Tatum made a nice play at short on a grounder by Steven Boyce, firing home to Holt for a force but, two pitches later, Izzo rapped an RBI single to left to make it 4-2 and keeping the bags filled.
But Jackson needed just four pitches to fan Chattaway, putting an end to the inning. That started a string in which the Sox’ right-hander retired six in a row before the two-out walk in the fifth.
Phillips pitched around a walk to Harrison Dale in the fourth and, in the fifth, a pass to Holt and an error that allowed Lee to reach.
Bryant padded the lead in the top of the sixth when Dale reached on an error and, on a hit-and-run, raced to third when Tatum singled to center. Though Tatum was caught trying to steal second, Gentry came through with an RBI single.
The last six Texarkana outs came on infield grounders, two to Gentry at second and three to Warner at third.
BRYANT EVERETT 5, TEXARKANA 2
Black Sox ab r h bi Razorbacks ab r h bi
Tipton, cf 4 1 1 0 Harrington, 2b 4 0 0 0
Holt, c 2 2 2 0 Myers, ss 4 0 2 0
Lee, lf 4 0 0 0 White, c 3 1 0 0
Patterson, 1b 2 1 0 0 BradWarner, 3b 4 0 0 0
BranWarner, 3b 2 0 0 2 McGilberry, cf 4 1 1 0
Dupree, dh 3 0 1 2 Caple, rf 3 0 2 1
Dale, rf 2 1 0 0 Boyce, dh 3 0 0 0
Tatum, ss 2 0 2 0 Izzo, 1b 2 0 1 1
Gentry, 2b2011Chattaway, lf1000
Jackson, p0000Santifer, lf1000
Phillips, p0000
Flanagan, p0000
Totals 23 5 7 5 Totals 29 2 6 2
BRYANT 301 001 0 — 5
Texarkana0020000 — 2
E—BranWarner, Harrington, Gentry, Myers 2, Dale. DP—Texarkana 2. LOB—Bryant 6, Texarkana 10. 2B—Holt. SB—Lee. S—Gentry, Tatum. SF—BranWarner 2.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
BRYANT
Jackson (W) 7 2 2 6 3 5
Texarkana
Phillips (L) 5.1 5 4 7 3 2
Flanagan 1.2 0 0 0 0 0
HBP—Patterson (by Phillips), White (by Jackson), Holt (by Flanagan).
