Zuber, Wells blank 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
The Zone 4 AAA American Legion game between the Bryant Black Sox and Little Rock Post 1 Blue came down to this:
Was David Martin out?
In a scoreless duel between Bryant’s Tanner Zuber and Blue’s Chris Brown that would wind up a 1-0 final, the Sox’ Aaron Davidson drew a walk to start the bottom of the fourth inning and Devin Hurt sacrificed him to second to bring up Martin who squibbed a slow roller that was fielded cleanly. But the throw was wide and high. Blue first baseman Justin Holt stretched out to catch it, trying to keep a toe on the bag as Martin hustled to beat the play.
The umpire ruled that Holt had lost contact with the bag to make the catch as Martin streaked across it safely. Though Blue manager Mike Johnson argued, the play stood.
Davidson wound up at third on the play. And, to that point, there really wasn’t any damage to Brown or his teammates. And when Brown caught Davidson wandering off third, it looked like it might be a harmless inning.
Davidson was able to stay in a rundown long enough for Martin to reach third, however. And that was key because, moments later, with Ryan Wilson at the plate, Brown unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Martin to score what proved to be the only run of the hotly-contested well-played game.
Zuber, who didn’t allow a hit after the third inning, got seventh-inning relief from Justin Wells who recorded his second save of the season. Zuber allowed just four hits in the game and walked only one.
Brown, meanwhile, went the distance allowing just three hits. But he walked four and hit two batters while striking out seven.
The only inning the Sox were retired 1-2-3 was the sixth and it only went that way thanks to an unusual doubleplay. Hurt had singled to start the inning and Martin had sacrificed him to second. Casey Grisham, pinch-hitting for Wilson, slapped a fly to shallow left-center. Blue’s Jeff Shaw charged in and, with a slide, picked the ball just before it hit the ground. Hurt, thinking the ball would get down for a hit, started towards third and before he could get back to second, Shaw threw in for a doubleplay that had Blue fired up.
But Wells applied the hose to that flare-up retiring the side on just seven pitches.
Blue had chances to score early but lost a pair of runners of its own on the bases. In the second, a two-out error allowed Dustin Ward to reach base. Cody Hill followed with a single to left. Ward tried to take third on the play but Bryant’s Travis Queck charged the ball and fired a strike to third to nail him, ending the inning.
In the third, Jamal Jefferson singled with one out and Brandon Welch followed with a double into the gap in left-center. Again, Queck hustled after the ball and made a good throw to Wells, the cutoff man at short. Jefferson, trying to score all the way from first was meat at the plate with Davidson applying the tag.
Though Welch wound up at third on the play, Zuber struck out Brown on three pitches to end the inning with the game still scoreless.
Welch’s hit was the last one for Blue. Zuber worked around a two-out walk in the fourth and a two-out error in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Brown shackled the Sox, pitching around a two-out single by Wells in the first and one-out walks in the second and third.
After scoring in the fourth, Bryant threatened in the fifth when Cory Lambert and Danny Riemenschneider were hit by pitches to start the inning. Joey Winiecki got a bunt down in a sacrifice attempt. Welch, the Blue shortstop, charged and threw to first but his throw pulled Mark Carpenter off the bag and the bases were loaded.
But Brown got Queck to bounce into a 1-2-3 doubleplay and, after pitching around Wells, got Davidson to fly out to center to keep it 1-0.
