Bryant holds on for a wild, important 6-5 win at Conway
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 continue 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
BRYANT TIMES
CONWAY — In a game that had some observers checking to see if there was full moon, the Bryant Hornets survived the craziness and the Conway Wampus Cats for an important 6-5 win in AAAAA-Central Conference play on Friday, March 26, at Wampus Cat Field.
With the potential tying and winning runs at second and third, junior right-hander Justin Wells, on in relief of starter Travis Wood, finally brought a halt to the proceedings by striking out Conway’s Chase Blackwell in the bottom of the seventh.
Wells picked up a save in Wood’s sixth win in as many decisions and the Hornets improved to 16-0 (18-0 counting forfeits by Little Rock McClellan) overall and 2-0 (or 4-0) in league play.
Zack Young, Todd Bryan and Wells each had two hits for the Hornets. Young drove in three runs with his first homer of the year and a sacrifice fly. Dustin Tinkler and Wood each had clutch two-out RBI singles along the way.
Conway only managed five hits but benefitted from four Bryant errors, four walks and a hit batsman to put together its rally.
The evening included a number of disputed calls and, eventually, the ejection of both head coaches and a Conway player. Plus, a delay when a bank of lights went out and the distraction of the arrival of the Conway police who made an arrest in the Conway stands that was unrelated to the game.
The game was a scoreless duel between Wood and Conway’s Matt Hall for three innings. Hall had pitched around two singles in the second and a double and a hit batsman in the third. Wood worked around a double and a sacrifice in the second, closing out the threat with two of his 11 strikeouts.
Bryant finally broke the deadlock in the fourth when, after Travis Wood had been hit by a pitch, Young unloaded on an 0-1 delivery for his first dinger of the season.
Controversy, which had already reared up in the first inning when Conway head coach Noel Boucher disputed a play at second insisting a Bryant baserunner had disrupted the play by sliding illegally or not sliding, came up again when, with two out and Richie Wood at second, Bryan chopped a pitch at the plate that appeared to hit him while he was in the batter’s box and ricocheted into fair territory where Conway catcher Richie Irvin fielded it and threw to first for the inning-ending out. Bryant head coach Terry Harper argued that the ball should’ve been called foul and the inning continued but to no avail.
There was more to come. Hall led off the bottom of the inning with a bouncer down the line at first. Bryan Griffith, the Bryant first sacker, ranged into foul territory to flag down the ball and raced to the bag to retire Hall. In order to avoid a collision, however, Griffith reached the base then stabbed the bag with his toe as Hall bore down on him. No doubt expecting a collision, Hall raised his arm to protect himself, his elbow extended. When Griffith stopped short of the bag, it made it look as though Hall was going after him with that elbow and he was quickly tossed from the game.
Boucher argued vehemently and, ultimately, was ejected as well.
Conway failed to score in the inning and Bryant made it 3-0 in the top of the fifth on a double by Wells and a two-out, two-strike single to left by Travis Wood.
Conway got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Matt Baker walked with two out, advanced to second on a balk, took third on a wild pitch and scored when Irvin singled on a 3-2 delivery.
Wood, however, ended it there by picking off courtesy runner Landon Ezell.
In the top of the sixth, Dustin Easterly lashed a two-out double to left. Bryan beat out an infield hit then Tinkler, on a 1-2 count, cracked a single up the middle that drove in courtesy runner James Leigh. And when Conway centerfielder Eric Sowell didn’t field the ball cleanly, the speedy Bryan scored all the way from first to make it 5-1.
In the bottom of the inning, however, Grant Garlington led off with a double. Andy Lee walked then Jordan Moix reached on an error to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Garlington to score and, an out later, Lee came home on Zack Throneberry’s grounder to short.
With the tying run at the plate, Wood ended the inning by fanning Ezell.
What turned out to be the decisive run came in the top of the seventh. Wells singled and took second on a wild pitch. An out later, Travis Wood’s short fly to right was dropped, sending Wells to third. He then scored when Young lofted a sacrifice fly to center.
Wood, up to around 120 pitches in the game, issued a lead-off walk to Tyler Mattox to start the top of the seventh. (After a two-strike call on checked swing didn’t go Bryant’s way.) Wells relieved and surrendered a single then hit a batter to load the bases. He then got Garlington to ground to second but an attempt at a force at second was undermined by a bad throw. Mattox scored. Wells retired Lee on a short fly to left then got Moix to ground into a force as another run scored to make it 6-5.
That’s when Harper got into it with the umpires again, insisting that Garlington, who was forced at second, didn’t slide and interference should have been called. That would’ve meant that the batter would be out as well, thus ending the game. The play stood and Harper was eventually ejected.
During the long discussion, Wells wisely stayed loose by playing catch with teammates and when play resumed he struck out Blackwell to end the game.
