Junior Sox pound out 9-1 win over Cabot Red
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CABOT — The Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion A team opened the 2015 season by pounding out 15 hits including three by Aaron Orender while a quartet of pitchers combined to allow just four hits in a 9-1 win over the Cabot Centennial Bank Red Junior team on Tuesday night.
Cabot entered the game with a 5-0 record already this season but not much went the Bankers’ way.
Jordan Gentry
The Sox put runners on base in each of the six innings of the game but were frustrated over the first two innings, stranding two after having the bases loaded in the second.
In the third, they struck for three runs with Seth Tucker getting things revved up with a lined shot beyond the reach of Cabot outfielder Will Jerry in right-center. Tucker legged out a triple and when the relay throw to third was errant, he scrambled home to make it 1-0.
Tucker, Dylan Hurt, Garrett Misenheimer, Austin Kelly and Jordan Gentry each finished with two hits in the game.
Hurt’s second hit was a single up the middle right after Tucker scored. Misenheimer followed with a grounder to third but when Dillon Thomas’ throw to second was dropped, both runners were safe. Kelly, trying to sacrifice, beat out his bunt for a single when no one covered first for Cabot.
Gentry yanked a sinking liner towards third that made all three Bryant runners freeze. When no out signal came, they realized the ball had been trapped on a short hop by Thomas but, by then, it was too late to avoid a force at the plate.
Orender, however, came through with an RBI single to right-center then Cameron Coleman made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, starter Beaux Bonvillain had Red shut out on one hit over two innings. He worked around a two-out error in the first then was aided by a tremendous play in the hole at short by Tucker and a nice scoop of a throw in the dirt at first by Hurt that retired the Bankers’ Logan Gilbertson. And when Nick Belden followed with a double into the left-field corner, that proved to be an even bigger defensive play.
After the Sox took the lead, Orender took his turn on the mound and eased to a 1-2-3 inning on just eight pitches.
In the top of the fourth, Tucker beat out an infield hit with two out and it started another outburst. He swiped second, one of Bryant’s six steals in the game, then Hurt reached on an error. Misenheimer picked up an RBI with an infield hit then Kelly lashed a double down the right-field line that made it 6-0. Gentry singled him in to cap the scoring.
Cabot threatened in the fourth on singles by Thomas and Gilbertson but a sparkling play at third by Misenheimer provided the final out to preserve the shutout for the time being.
The Sox tacked on two in the top of the fifth when, again with two out, Tucker walked, Hurt was struck by a pitch, Misenheimer doubled and Jeffrey Hastings ripped a single to left-center.
Cabot got its lone run in the home fifth. Dylan Billingsley walked and courtesy runner Easton Seidl stole second. He took third on a groundout to second as the Sox’ Diego Vargas made another sparkling defensive play. The run scored on a wild pitch before Kelly, the third Bryant hurler recorded his second strikeout of the inning.
Tucker finished the game on the mound. He fanned one and pitched around a two-out single by Gilbertson.
“We didn’t score early,” commented Bryant manager Darren Hurt. “But we squared a lot of balls up then, finally, we started getting them through and getting them to fall.
“We got to throw a few arms and played good defense,” he noted.
The Everett A team will join the Sox’ Senior team at a showcase tournament in Atlanta starting Thursday. They’re set to open against Team Elite Roadrunners at 3 p.m., on Friday. Pool play will continue on Saturday with a game at 9 a.m., against GCBD Pro Elite and at 2 p.m., against Arkansas Rawlings Prospects.
