Junior Sox hang on to finish 3-0 in pool play at tourney
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CONWAY — The pitching of the Bryant Black Sox Junior Legion team continued to impress at the Five Tool (16U) Showcase Tournament on Saturday. Right-hander Josh Turner shut out the RBI Baseball Academy from northwest Arkansas on just two hits over the first four innings.
His teammates broke open a 1-1 game with a six-run fifth. The Sox held off a rally in the sixth on the way to a 7-4 win, finishing pool play unbeaten.
They begin bracket play on Sunday at 9 a.m., at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock.
“We’ve got a solid staff, a deep staff,” acknowledge Sox manager Ozzie Hurt, adding of Turner, “He was just keeping them off balance. The key to Josh is, when he can throw his curveball for a strike, he’s very effective. He’s not going to over-power you with his fastball. He just locates. (Both pitches) look a lot alike out of his hand.”
Offensively, Bryant had base-runners in every inning but could only scratch out one run over the first four against right-hander J.T. Roses of Pea Ridge.
In the first, Lawson Speer and Ryan Riggs singled to put runners at the corners with two outs, but both were stranded. In the second, Gavin Burton blooped a single to center and Blaine Sears was hit by a pitch but, again, the Sox were denied.
In the third, however, Noah Davis reached on an error and scored on Peyton Dillon’s long double to left-center. Though Peyton swiped third with no one out, he was stranded.
Sears drew a two-out walk in the fourth but got no further than first.
“I think we just weren’t focused,” Hurt said. “And I told them yesterday before the second game (against Rawlings Arkansas Prospects), you come off a walk-off (against Northwest Arkansas Prospects), it’s hard to get motivated to play the next game. You come off such a high and it’s hard to keep it there. But, you know, even yesterday — the kid walking the first five helped — but then it carried over into today and I said, ‘Listen, we have to keep focused.’”
A single, a wild pitch and a second single produced the RBI run in the bottom of the third. But Turner fanned the next batter and Burton, the Bryant catcher, foiled a stolen base attempt with a strong throw to second to end the inning.
Davis opened the Bryant fifth with a double to right-center. He stole third and, with one out, scored on Riggs’ second hit. Dakota Clay singled then, after Roses was relieved by Cole Bonds, they pulled off a double steal, drawing a wild throw to third that allowed Riggs to score.
Cade Parker drew a pinch-hit walk and Colby Morrow’s pinch-hit RBI single made it 4-1.
A walk to J.T. Parker loaded the bases and brought another pitching change. Jay McCool’s wild pitch made it 5-1 before Sears singled in a run.
Speer capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Noah Tawney of Gravette doubled to open the bottom of the fifth, but Turner came back to strike out the next two batters. A wild pitch allowed Tawney to take third and a walk on his 77thpitch moved Hurt to bring on Drew Hatman to relieve. A walk loaded the bases and a hit batsman force in a run to make it 7-2.
But Hatman ended the inning with a strikeout.
Riggs walked, and Clay was struck by a pitch in the top of the sixth, but the Sox were unable to take advantage against lefty Landon Austin.
In the bottom of the sixth, Roses singled and stole second. Hagan McGarrah (Pea Ridge) singled to put runners at first and third then Luke Crumpler (Bentonville) got a squeeze bunt down to make it 7-3.
Tawney beat out an infield hit, and runners were at the corners again with Connor Kneeshaw (Bentonville) coming up. On the first pitch from Hatman, Kneeshaw hit a drive that appeared to be destined for the gap and extra bases but Sears, racing into the gap in left-center, somehow flagged it down.
McGarrah tagged and scored but Tawney had taken off and was on his way to third when the catch was made. The Sox relayed it in and Tawney got back to the base ahead of the throw, but it didn’t matter because, upon retracing his steps back to first, Tawney had cut across the infield without retagging second. He was called out and the game was over.
Afterwards, Hurt kept the Sox huddled up for a long talk.
“They’re young,” he related when asked about the talk. “It’s just hard. I’ve been with the Senior team a long time. Those guys, they’re so close to the next level — and most of them are going to make it — that they’re self-motivated, for the most part.
“But these guys, it’s hard,” he continued. “Somedays they show up and some days they don’t. It’s a different animal. The gist of it is ‘Why do we take these opportunities for granted? Why do you just go through the motions?’ It’s just so hard to keep them motivated at all times. They’re just so young, man.”
Hurt concluded, “The bench players, “Guess why y’all got in today? Because the other guys weren’t doing their jobs.’ If it wasn’t for that, who knows? ‘And I shouldn’t have to ask you to go get foul balls and I shouldn’t have to ask you to do this, and this.’”
