Bryant falls a few outs short at TwinLakes
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting 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).
MOUNTAIN HOME — Newly ranked as the top American Legion team in Arkansas by arkansasbaseball.com, the Bryant Black Sox appeared to be on their way to the championship round of the prestigious Twin Lakes/Lockerroom Classic Saturday.
With victories over North Little Rock and Pontatoc, Miss. behind them, the Sox held a 4-2 lead going into the fifth inning of their final pool play contest against Jefferson City, Mo., which had also defeated the other two teams in the pool. Bryant needed nine more outs.
But Jefferson City rallied for two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth while Bryant’s bats fell silent. The resulting 7-4 loss knocked the Sox out of the tournament. Jeff City went on to win the championship and the giant trophy that goes with it.
The weekend’s results left the Sox still sporting an impressive 19-4 record this season. And their top-ranking appeared to have an affect on future foes. Stuttgart bowed out of Monday’s game with Bryant. Hot Springs Village, scheduled for Thursday, June 21, asked out. Bauxite, the foe scheduled for Saturday, June 23, begged off, as did Maumelle, the opponent scheduled for a doubleheader on June 26.
Manager Craig Harrison was left searching for a team to pick up a game against to fill out the week which still included games at Benton (June 20), at Crossett (June 24) and at Arkansas Trailer (J.A. Fair, June 25).
Bryant’s pitching continued to sparkle at the Classic. In the opener, Michael McClellan pitched 4 2/3 innings without allowing a hit to North Little Rock as the Sox run-ruled North Little Rock’s Colts — the third time they’d done that this season — 9-0.
A two-out double spoiled McClellan’s no-hit bid but he came back from the disappointment for a strikeout that ended the game. He improved to 4-0 this season.
Against Pontatoc, Scott Yant also upped his record to 4-0, scattering 10 hits and allowing just two runs in a 10-2 victory in six innings.
And, against Jeff City, Brad Chism struggled in the second and fifth but was tough the rest of the time including the start of the sixth when errors did the Sox in. Cody Dreher relieved and surrendered a walk and a pair of hits but retired the final four he faced including three in the seventh on strikeouts.
Jefferson City, Mo. 7,
Bryant 4
The game winning rally began with an error and a walk. Chism, after giving up two runs on three hits and a pair of walks in the fifth, gave way to Dreher. Jeff City tried a sacrifice and got a bonus when an errant throw to third allowed both runners to score. After another error, a single brought home the third run.
The Sox defense regrouped to turn a doubleplay and, after a walk and another hit, Dreher got the final out on a pop back to the mound.
In the bottom of the inning, a one-out single by Matt Brown was wasted. And the Sox were retired in order in the seventh as Jefferson City claimed the victory thanks to three unearned runs.
Bryant had spotted Jeff City a 2-0 lead in the second. Four singles and a sacrifice fly produced the runs then Chism got a strikeout to strand two.
In the bottom of the third, Bryant’s Jordan Davis smacked a lead-off homer to cut the lead to 2-1. And, after Chism worked around a lead-off double in the top of the fourth, the Sox rallied for the lead in the home half.
Dustin Morris blistered a double to the gap in left-center then McClellan singled. Base hits by Brown and Beau Hamblin drove in runs as Bryant took the lead. Brown came home when Cody Graddy grounded into a force at second, making it 4-2.
Brown and Davis had two hits in the game for Bryant.
Bryant 10, Pontatoc, Miss. 2
Morris drove in three runs and joined Matt White, Davis and Chris Sory with two hits each as the Sox drubbed Pontatoc. Sory drove in a pair of runs, as well.
Pontatoc managed a run in the top of the first on three singles. The run-scoring hit came with two out.
But the lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, White sliced a double to right-center and Morris slapped one down the right field line to tie the game. After advancing on a passed ball, Morris scored on a groundout by Brown and the Sox were ahead to stay.
In the second, Dreher walked and took second on a passed ball with two outs. Sory chased him home with a single to right.
Yant, meanwhile, worked around a hit batter in the second (thanks to a doubleplay), a lead-off single in the third and a pair of hits with two down in the fourth.
The Sox made his job a bit more comfortable with a three-run home fourth that started with a third-strike wild pitch that allowed Graddy to reach base. Davis followed with a single that chased Graddy to third. And, on the late throw there, Davis hustled to second. Moments later, Graddy broke for the plate on Dreher’s bouncer to third. The throw home was off the mark and Graddy scored.
Sory then came through again with an RBI single. Dreher scored when Morris’s two-out drive to right was misplayed.
A pair of singles around a walk produced a run for Pontatoc in the top of the fifth. On the second hit, however, the base-runner was gunned down on a relay from Hamblin in right to Morris, the cut-off man, to Brown at second, trying to stretch the single. Yant retired the next two to strand a runner at third and, in the bottom of the inning, the Sox took up where they left off.
With two down, Graddy singled and Davis drove home Chism, who was pinch-running, with a blast into right-center that went for a triple.
The Sox got another outfield assist in the top of the sixth when White chased down a hit to center and cut down the batter as he tried to leg out a double. Yant surrendered another single but then retired the next two with ease to set up Bryant’s game-ending uprising in the bottom of the frame.
Sory was hit by a pitch to start it off. White doubled him to third then Morris singled both home, advancing to second on a late throw to the plate. But he was still there with the game-ending run after two were out. The count to Hamblin went to 0-2 before he cracked a single to bring Morris around.
Bryant 9,
North Little Rock 0
McClellan allowed just three baserunners in the game. He worked around an error with two down in the second and a one-out walk in the third before giving up the lone hit in the fifth. He struck out six.
Meanwhile, the Sox rocked Colts’ ace Brian Harper for the second time this season, pounding out 10 hits including two each by White and Davis. Eight of the nine Sox in the starting lineup hit safely.
Actually, Harper matched McClellan over the first two innings but Davis opened the top of the fourth with a single up the middle. Two outs later, White’s first hit moved Davis to third. North Little Rock got a brief break when Morris’s drive to left went for a ground-rule double, forcing White to stay at third after Davis had scored. But a bad-hop single past second by McClellan made that inconsequential as both White and Morris scored.
An error kept the inning going as Brown reached base then Hamblin’s RBI single made it 4-0.
In the top of the fifth, the Sox put the run-rule in effect. With one out, Brown singled to center, Hamblin walked and Graddy was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Davis. On the first pitch to him, Davis smashed a triple to clear the bases. And he scored as well when the relay was booted.
A pitch later, Matt Lewis tripled. He then scored on a wild pitch.
