Ransdell limits Ricemen to one hit
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
Drew Ransdell tossed a one-hitter and David Guarno and Jordan Knight each had two hits and two runs batted in as the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team notched its 10th win in as many Zone 4 games this season, 8-3, over the Stuttgart Ricemen on Thursday, July 10, at Bryant HIgh School Field.
Stuttgart, no doubt embarrassed by a 17-1thumping at home to the Sox earlier in the season, came in with some determination and proved much tougher, even holding a 3-2 lead early.
All three runs were unearned, however, as a pair of walks and a pair of two-out errors played into the inning. Logan Ward slapped a single into right to drive in the third run, snapping a 2-2 tie.
Bryant had taken the lead in the home first on a walk to Garrett Bock, a double by Tyler Pickett and a pair of wild pitches.
And the 3-2 lead didn’t last long. In the third, Pickett was hit by a pitch and, with two out, Guarno came through with a shot to the fence in left-center for a game-tying triple. Knight beat out an infield hit and the Sox were back up 4-3.
Meanwhile, Ransdell started a string in which he retired 16 of the last 18 batters he faced. Stuttgart’s lone baserunners came on a third-strike wild pitch with two out in the third and on a hit batsman with one out in the sixth.
Bryant added a run in the fourth. Michael Haydon drew a walk and Justin Blankenship beat out an infield, drawing a late errant throw on which Haydon alertly took third. With one out, Pickett was hit by a pitch again and, after a pitching change, Tyler Sawyer brought in the run with a sacrifice fly.
They put the finishing touches on the win in the home sixth. Sawyer singled and scored all the way from first on Guarno’s long double. Knight singled in the second run and, after Kaleb Jobe’s fly to left was misplayed, Trent Daniel’s sacrifice fly set the final score.
