Junior Sox make quick work of Little Rock 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
Matt Neal and Dylan Cross combined on a four-hit shutout and the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team pounded out 13 hits to overwhelm Little Rock Post 1 Blue, 13-0, at Bryant High School Field on Wednesday night.
It was rough night for the Little Rock team, which committed seven errors in the five-inning contest.
Chris Joiner went 4 for 4 with three runs batted in to highlight the Sox’ work on offense. Ozzie Hurt, Jordan Taylor and Quinton Motto each had two hits.[more]
The Sox, now 10-2-1 going into their final two regular-season games, broke out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Evan Jobe jump-started the outburst with a shot to the fence in left-center that he turned into a triple with a soaring head-first lunge into third.
Hurt followed with a single to right that was misplayed allowing him to take second as Jobe scored. Another error allowed Taylor to reach as Hurt scored the Joiner slashed a single to left for his first hit. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with Caleb Milam at the plate. Milam then hit a hard grounder to short. Blue shortstop Ethan Sheppard made a nice play on the ball and threw behind Joiner at second to get an out as Taylor scored to make it 3-0.
A walk to Trent Rivers kept things going. Milam and Rivers moved to second and third, respectively, on Tyler Brown’s tap to third but, on the next pitch, Josh Pultro lined a single over the second baseman’s head to chase both runners home.
Neal had worked around a two-out walk to Ethan Sheppard in the top of the first, striking out the side. In the second, he fanned another batter before Patrick Anderson singled to left. Neal induced a grounder to short by Tucker Thompson to end the inning.
Jared Sheppard took over on the mound in the second for Blue in place of starter Justin Jackson. With one out, Hurt beat out an infield hit as Ethan Sheppard made another sparkling defensive play. But his throw was not only late, it got past Thompson, the first baseman, and Hurt wound up at second. He took third on Taylor’s groundout to first the nscored on Joiner’s single to right to make it 6-0.
Though Milam drew a walk, Sheppard limited the damage to the one run.
Cross relieved Neal in the top of the third and Blue was able to load the bases. Sherman Williams singled and David Watterson was hit by a pitch. Jared Sheppard’s grounder to short drew an errant throw to second and all hands were a safe. After Ethan Sheppard popped to Motto at first, Cross used a fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move to catch Jared Sheppard wandering off the bag. Williams broke for the plate and Motto fired to Joiner in time for the tag for the second out of the inning.
Jordan Britton drew a walk to load the bases again but Cross got Jackson to tap to Brown at third for an inning-ending force.
In turn, the Sox blew the game up with a six-run third. Pultro was hit by a pitch to start the inning and, after he stole second, Motto plugged the gap in left-center for an RBI double.
With one out, Hurt reached on an error then Taylor doubled into the right-field corner to chase in Motto, making it 8-0.
Joiner’s third hit, another single, drove in two more.
Milam was hit by a pitch and Rivers singled to load the bases. Joiner scored when Brown bounced into a force at second. Milam held at third as Pultro’s grounder to third drew a throw in the dirt at first, filling the sacks again. Motto’s infield hit made it 12-0.
After Cross pitched around a two-out infield hit by Thompson in the top of the fourth, the Sox added a run off Josh Hale, the third Blue pitcher. Hurt reached on an error in front of singles by Taylor and Joiner to load the bases. With one out, Rivers lifted a sacrifice fly to center to complete the scoring.
Watterson led off the top of the fifth with the fourth Post 1 hit, a bloop single to right. Jared Sheppard was hit by a pitch but then Cross retired the next three to end it.
The Junior Sox are set to host Little Rock Continental on Friday before closing out the regular season on Monday at home against Lakeside. The Junior District Tournament is set to commence on July 5.
BRYANT BLACK SOX 13, LITTLE ROCK POST 1 BLUE 0
Junior American Legion
Blue ab r h bi Black Sox ab r h bi
Watterson, cf 2 0 1 0 Jobe, cf 4 1 1 0
J.Sheppard, 3b-p-2b 2 0 0 0 Hurt, 2b 4 4 2 1
E.Sheppard, ss 2 0 0 0 Taylor, ss 4 2 2 1
Jo.Britton, c 2 0 0 0 Joiner, c 4 1 4 3
Jackson, p-3b 3 0 0 0 Milam, dh 2 2 0 1
Ja.Britton, rf 1 0 0 0 Rivers, lf 2 1 1 1
Dean, rf 1 0 0 0 Brown, 3b 4 0 0 1
Anderson, 2b 1 0 1 0 Pultro, rf 2 1 1 2
Hale, p 1 0 0 0 Motto, 1b 3 1 2 2
Thompson, 1b 2 0 1 0 Neal, p 0 0 0 0
Williams, lf 2 0 1 0 Cross, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 19 0 4 0 Totals 29 13 13 12
LR Blue 000 00 — 0
BRYANT 516 1x — 13
E—Ja.Britton, Anderson 3, E.Sheppard, Taylor, Jackson 2. LOB—Little Rock Blue 8, Bryant 9. 2B—Taylor, Motto. 3B—Jobe. SB—E.Sheppard, Joiner 2, Pultro. SF—Rivers.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Little Rock Blue
Jackson (L) 1 5 1 4 1 0
J.Sheppard 2 7 3 7 1 0
Hale 1 1 0 2 0 1
Bryant
Neal 2 0 0 1 1 4
Cross (W) 3 0 0 3 1 2
HBP—Pultro, Milam (by J.Sheppard), Watterson, J.Sheppard (by Cross). WP—Jackson.
