Bryant AAA blasts LR Blue
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).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
LITTLE ROCK — This time, there was no letdown.
Most years, after the Bryant Black Sox AAA American Legion team competed in a tournament like the Twin Lakes Classic in Mountain Home — especially if they played their way deep into it — they’d come back to regular-season play and stub their toe, often against a team from their District.
But this year, after winning the Mountain Home tourney for the first time since 1994, the Sox followed up with a 13-0 five-inning thumping of Little Rock Post 1 Blue at Curran-Conway Field on Wednesday, June 21.
The Sox hammered out 13 hits while lefty Casey Grisham shut out Blue on just two hits. Grisham fanned six and walked two in the contest, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Blue’s lone hits were a single up the middle by Brandon Welch with two out in the third — Grisham later picked him off second — and an infield hit by Jamal Jefferson to open the fourth.
Joey Winiecki, who extended his hitting streak to 18 games, went 2 for 3 while Travis Queck and Cory Lambert each had two hits as well.
The Sox broke out to a 4-0 lead in the first taking advantage of a pair of walks by Welch, the Blue starter. With two down, Devin Hurt came through with an RBI single to break the ice. Queck singled in a run and, after Lambert beat out an infield hit to load the bases again, Ryan Wilson lined one to left-center to chase home two.
In the second, Winiecki walked, took second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a single to right by Danny Riemenschneider to make it 5-0.
A seven-run third blew the game open. Blue reliever Mark Carpenter faced four batters and didn’t retire anyone. Queck and Lambert singled, Wilson walked and Tyler Pickett was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Matt Epperson relieved and Winiecki greeted him with an RBI single. Riemenschneider took one for the team and picked up an RBI before Justin Wells and Aaron Davidson each singled in runs.
Riemenschneider scored when Blue turned a doubleplay and Wells came home when Queck’s grounder to short was booted.
Justin Gaddy doubled in a run in the fourth to make it a baker’s dozen for the Sox .
