Junior Sox walk it off on Clay’s clutch hit
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).
CABOT — Dakota Clay’s base hit to center with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, drove home Noah Davis with the winning run as the Bryant Black Sox 17U American Legion team walked it off against the Brinkley Patriots, 2-1, in the second round of a tournament in Cabot on Sunday.
Will Hathcote and Drew Hatman combined to no-hit the Patriots. Hathcote pitched the first four innings and surrendered the lone run. He walked four and struck out four. Hatman retired all nine batters he faced as he closed it out and picked up the win.
The Sox, now 2-0, will finish out the tourney on Monday at noon against Sheridan.
Bryant had taken a 1-0 lead in the first then Brinkley had tied it with a run in the top of the fourth. It stayed that way until, in the bottom of the seventh, Davis reached on an error and Ryan Riggs singled. Aaron Morgan’s fly out to left allowed Davis to tag and go to third. On an 0-1 pitch, Clay came through with the game-winner.
Clay, Riggs and Lawson Speer had two hits apiece.
Hathcote pitched around an error in the top of the first. In the home half, Speer was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a single to right by Riggs.
The Patriots were retired in order in the top of the second. Bryant threatened when Colby Morrow drew a one-out walk and, after he was forced at second on Kyler Pabon’s grounder, Speer singled. Davis made a bid at an RBI hit but his line drive was caught by the Brinkley shortstop to end the inning.
In the Patriots’ fourth, a pair of walks opened the innings but Hathcote came back to retire the next two. A strike away from getting out of the inning, another walk, this time on a 3-2 pitch, loaded the bases. Another free pass forced in the tying run before a grounder to Pabon at second ended the inning.
Brinkley would not muster another base-runner the rest of the game.
Speer opened the bottom of the fifth with a triple. With one out, Riggs tried to squeeze him home but the Patriots’ pitcher got to the ball and tossed to the plate in time for the tag to be applied.
In the sixth, Clay doubled to get things going. On a comebacker to the pitcher off the bat of Tyler Bates, Clay was caught off the bag and tagged out. J Parker singled and Bates raced to third.
Again, trying to bunt home a run, Logan White’s sacrifice attempt was fielded by the catcher, who got back in time to tag out Bates at the plate. Pabon then bounced into a force at second to end the threat.
But only for the time being.
