Junior Sox rally past Continental, 6-5; among State’s final four
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting 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
SHERIDAN — The Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team was down to its last three outs. They trailed the rival Little Rock Continental Express team, 5-4, going into the seventh inning. The two teams had met four previous times during the season and Bryant had won three times but it was beginning to look like this might be Continental’s day.
The Express had snapped a 4-4 tie with a run in the bottom of the fifth then escaped a bases-loaded situation in the sixth as the two teams battled in the losers bracket of the Junior Legion State Tournament on Sunday.
After right-hander Blake Davidson, on in relief of starter Matt Neal, eased to a 1-2-3 home sixth with a pair of strikeouts, the Sox came up in the top of the seventh.
Brodie Nixon, on a 1-1 count, was hit by a pitch from Express starter Hayes Riser. A pitch later, Evan Jobe rifled his third hit of the game to center to fuel the Bryant hopes. And when Caleb Milam got down a bunt, it appeared the Sox were going to have the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Continental first baseman Adam Hamaker charged, fielded the ball and fired to third. The throw was late as Nixon slid in but he wound up over-sliding the bag. Though it appeared he scrambled back in safely, third baseman Taylor Vanbrevlet applied the tag and Nixon was called out.
What might’ve been a momentum changer, wasn’t for long. A wild pitch moved Jobe to third and Milam to second with pinch-hitter Tyler Brown coming to the plate. Brown, normally the starter at second base, hadn’t made the start because he wasn’t feeling well. But when he was called on in the seventh, he came through, blooping one into shallow right-center. Despite a valiant diving attempt, Continental second baseman Ivan Tate couldn’t catch it. Jobe scored the tying run and Milam reached third.
While Riser received a visit from his coach, Bryant coaches Brad Chism and Dustin Tinkler huddled with the next batter Blake Davidson. When play resumed, Davidson squared around on the first pitch and got the bunt down on a squeeze play that got Milam home with the go-ahead run. On a close play at first, Davidson was called out but the Sox had the lead.
Chris Joiner followed with a single but Brown was held up at third in respect for the arm of center fielder Justin Williams. Riser got out of the jam at that point and Continental got one more shot.
But Davidson got Tate, the Express’ tough lead-off man, to bounce out to Brown at second to start the inning. Josh Alberius followed with a single but was forced out at second on a grounder to Lucas Castleberry by Vanbrevlet. A relay to first was late. Hamaker drew a walk to push the potential tying run to second then Davidson got the first two strikes in on Williams, who then cracked a liner down the right-field line that Milam raced over and grabbed to end the game.[more]
With the 6-5 win, Bryant improved to 19-11-1 on the season and, more importantly, advanced to the final four of the tournament. They’ll play Sheridan in one semifinal game on Monday while Paragould and Texarkana play in the other. Sheridan, on Sunday, whipped Paragould 12-2 to remain the lone unbeaten team in the tournament. The Yellowjackets have clinched a berth in the championship game. With a win over Bryant, the survivor of the Paragould-Texarkana game would have to beat them twice on Tuesday to capture the title. With a Bryant win, Sheridan would wait for the winner-take-all final against the survivor of a game between Bryant and the Paragould-Texarkana winner in an early game on Tuesday.
In fact, Sheridan’s lone loss in either the District or the State tournament was to Bryant in the winners bracket final of the District. The Jackets came back to beat the Sox twice to capture the District title and have hammered three opponents at State.
The game ended the season for Little Rock Continental Express which won the Junior State tournament last season in Batesville. This year’s team included three holdovers from that team, Hamaker, Williams and Tate.
“We knew if we hit the ball, we would be in a good position to win,” Chism said. “We hit it, we just didn’t get as many timely hits as we needed. But, the last inning, we got it. The guys came off the field after the bottom of the sixth and I told them, ‘We’re down to our last inning. This is it. If we don’t do it here, we go home.’ And you could see them lift up a little bit. They’re not ready to go home. They don’t want to finish as the fifth-place team, the fourth, the third, or second. They want to win this thing. And, after tonight, I’ve got some kids that are believing.”
Oddly enough, in all four wins over Continental this season, the Sox have allowed five runs.
Bryant got on the board first. Joiner, who had three hits, drew a walk to start the game. Castleberry singled and, when Pickett lined out to right, Joiner took third. With Dylan Pritchett at the plate, Castleberry took off for second, drawing a throw. Joiner started home but the Continental infielders cut off their pursuit of Castleberry and got Joiner in a hot box. He stayed in long enough for Castleberry to sneak into third. On the next pitch, Pritchett bounced a clutch single up the middle to drive him in.
Neal set down the first six batters he faced and, in the top of the third, Bryant added another run when Joiner doubled, took third on a grounder to the right side by Castleberry and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pickett.
In the bottom of the inning, Continental got its first baserunner when Taylor Maddox was hit by a pitch. After Neal fanned Thomas Fiedorek, Ben Gibson pulled a single to left for the first Little Rock hit. Neal and Tate battled to a full count before the batter drove one into the right-center gap for a two-run double, tying the game. Moments later, with Tate running from second, Alberius grounded to Tyler Gattin at second base. Gattin threw Alberius out at first while the speedy Tate rounded third and sprinted home, trying to catch the Sox off-guard. But Pickett fired a strike to Pritchett who blocked the plate and applied the tag to end the inning.
Riser worked around a lead-off single by Jobe in the top of the fourth and Continental surged into the lead in the home half. Vanbrevlet ripped a double to left-center but remained there after Neal got Hamaker to line to Castleberry at short then Williams to pop out. A 1-1 delivery to Jacob Green, however, was slapped into right for an RBI single. A late relay to the plate allowed Green to take second which proved telling when Maddox doubled him home to make it 4-2.
Davidson came on to relieve Neal at that point and surrendered an infield hit before striking out Gibson to end the inning.
Bryant answered right back in the top of the fifth with Joiner instigating the offense again. He hit a chopper through the left side that ricocheted off the third baseman and into left field. Hustling all the way, Joiner slid into second with another double, just beating the throw from the outfield. An out later, Joiner moved enough off second to make Vanbrevlet fake a throw there after he fielded a sharp grounder off Pickett’s bat. And when Vanbrevlet turned to throw to first, he fired it short of Hamaker’s stretch and past him. Joiner held at third but Pickett made it to second.
With two down, Nixon came through with an RBI single to center then Jobe fisted a looping liner into right for a base hit that tied the game.
In the bottom of the inning, however, Tate and Alberius led off with singles. Vanbrevlet bounced into a force at second as Tate advanced to third. Davidson struck out Hamaker then appeared to be out of the inning when he got Williams to crack a high hopper toward third. Nixon seemed to have a bead on the ball but to his surprise, it ricocheted out of his glove and Tate came home with the tie-breaking run as Williams reached.
Bryant let a great chance to answer get away from them in the top of the sixth when, with one out, Davidson singled and, with two down, Castleberry pulled a base hit into left. Pickett was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Pritchett. On a 2-1 pitch, Pritchett connected well but his fly ball was tracked down in deep right by Gibson to retire the side with the Express still clinging to the 5-4 lead.
The Sox, however, made the best of their last chance. They’re now a win away from playing for a championship.
BRYANT 6, LITTLE ROCK CONTINENTAL EXPRESS 5
Junior American Legion State Tournament, Sherdian
Bryant ab r h bi Continental Express ab r h bi
Joiner, cf 4 2 3 0 Tate, 2b 4 1 2 2
Castleberry, ss 5 1 2 0 Alberius, ss 4 0 2 0
Pickett, 1b 2 1 0 1 Vanbrevlet, 3b 4 1 1 0
Pritchett, c 3 0 1 1 Hamaker, 1b 3 0 0 0
Nixon, 3b 3 0 1 1 Williams, cf 4 0 0 0
Jobe, lf 4 1 3 1 Green, c 3 1 1 1
Milam, rf 2 1 0 0 Maddox, lf 2 1 1 1
Gattin, 2b 3 0 0 0 Osborn, lf 0 0 0 0
Brown, ph-2b 1 0 1 1 Fiedorek, dh 3 0 1 0
Davidson, dh-p 3 0 1 1 Gibson, rf 3 1 1 0
Neal, p 0 0 0 0 Riser, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 30 6 12 6 Totals 30 5 9 4
BRYANT 101 020 2 — 6
LR Continental 002 210 0 — 5
E—Vanbrevlet, Nixon. DP—Bryant 1. LOB—Bryant 11, Little Rock Continental Express 6. 2B—Joiner 2, Tate, Vanbrevlet, Maddox. S—Milam, Davidson. SF—Pickett.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Bryant
Neal 3.2 4 4 5 0 2
Davidson (W) 3.1 1 0 4 1 4
LR Continental Express
Riser (L) 7 6 4 12 3 3
HBP—Maddox (by Neal), Pickett, Nixon (by Riser). WP—Neal, Riser 2.
