Hornets take two of three at Sheridan tournament
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
SHERIDAN — The Bryant Hornets baseball team had its four-game winning streak snapped by the highly-ranked Little Rock Mills Comets, but bounced back with two easy victories at the Sheridan Invitational Tournament.
The Hornets stranded runners in every inning but one while falling to Mills 8-3 on Saturday, but they came back that day to trounce the Fordyce Redbugs 10-2 in five innings and, on Tuesday night, to bury the Hot Springs Trojans 18-0 in just three frames.
As a result, the Hornets take a 7-4 mark into this evening’s non-conference game at Benton.
Bryant 18,
Hot Springs 0
Michael McClellan allowed just one hit and a walk while striking out six in a three-inning shutout, his second whitewash job in succession. (He blanked Little Rock Catholic on four hits in his previous outing.)
The Hornets just batted twice, scoring nine runs in each turn. Their cause was aided by 12 walks and three Hot Springs errors in those two frames.
In the first, however, the Bryant bats got things going. Matt Brown opened the inning with a single. He swiped second and took third when Hot Springs catcher Jeff Goines threw wildly. Billy Landers singled him home the stole second and took third on a wild pitch. An out later, he scored on a single by McClellan. Kris Kuykendall followed with a two-run home run to make it 4-0.
A trio of walks followed as Anthony Rose, Josh Caldwell and Brandon Fitts reached base. A wild pitch brought Rose home, Caldwell scored on a double by Travis Lawhon, then a balk allowed Fitts to score. Lawhon, who had taken third on the balk, scored on a passed ball after Brown and J.J Yant had walked to load the bases.
And when McClellan’s grounder to short drew a bad throw to first, Brown scored the Hornets’ ninth run of the inning.
In the second, Hot Springs starter Tim Labuda walked Rose and Caldwell again then hit Fitts to load the bases. Lefty Danny Hill relieved but fared little better. Walks to Lawhon and Brown forced in two runs. Pinch-hitter Brandon Nichols grounded into a force at home but Yant followed with a two-run single to make it 13-0.
McClellan walked to load the bases again for Kuykendall whose grounder to second was misplayed, allowing two more runs to score.
Walks to pinch-hitters Allen Young and Joey Brown forced in a run then Jason Roberts singled to make it 17-0. Young scored the final run when Lawhon grounded into a force at second.
Bryant 10,
Fordyce 2
Matt Brown, Anthony Rose and Kris Kuykendall each cracked home runs as the Hornets romped over the Redbugs.
Brown led off the game with a solo blast, but a two-run blast off Hornets’ starter J.J. Yant in the bottom of the inning gave Fordyce a 2-1 lead.
That didn’t last long, however. After Yant fanned two to get out of the bottom of the first, the Hornets regained the lead in the second. Josh Caldwell earned a one-out walk before Rose unloaded on a 1-1 delivery to give Bryant a 3-2 edge.
Brandon Fitts followed with a single, took second on a passed ball then swiped third. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Morris.
After Yant retired the side in order in the bottom of the second and worked around a walk in the third, the Hornets added to their lead in the top of the fourth. Rose led off with a double to right-center then consecutive bunts by Fitts and Morris were botched by the Redbugs, allowing Rose to score.
An error on a grounder to third by Matt Brown allowed Fitts and Morris to score, making it 7-2.
With two down, Michael McClellan singled then Kuykendall blasted a three-run dinger to complete the scoring.
Yant gave up a walk in the fourth then walked one and surrendered a single in the fifth but, each time, slammed the door on the Redbugs to complete the victory.
In five innings, the senior right-hander struck out 7 and walked three while giving up just three hits.
Rose, Fitts and McClellan each had two hits for the Hornets.
Little Rock Mills 8,
Bryant 3
Errors helped put the Hornets in a hole early.
Bryant had managed a run off Mills ace David Worstell in the top of the first when Billy Landers singled with one out, stole second and scored when Michael McClellan’s grounder to second was misplayed.
Hornets’ lefty Anthony Rose gave up a one-out single to Paul Butler in the bottom of the inning then Andy Runyan’s fly to left was misplayed. A walk loaded the bases but Rose got Ryan Benson to ground into a force at home. But Worstell delivered a two-out single to tie the game at 1.
Despite a double by Josh Caldwell and a single by Brandon Fitts in the top of the second, the Hornets were unable to snap the tie. Mills, however, took advantage of two Bryant errors in the bottom of the inning to claim a 4-1 lead.
It stayed that way until the fourth when doubles by Taylor Guillory and Butler as well as singles by Runyan and Blake Horsman combined with a pair of Bryant errors to make it 7-1.
The Comets added another unearned run in the fifth before Bryant got things going again versus Mills reliever Steven Lockwood.
McClellan led off the top of the sixth with a double. Singles by Kuykendall and Rose chased home courtesy runner Chris Sory. The Hornets loaded the bases with a walk to Caldwell, but couldn’t push anymore runs across until the seventh when Matt Brown belted a lead-off homer. Landers, who was 3-for-3 with a sacrifice in the contest, followed with a single and Yant walked, but a doubleplay helped get Lockwood off the hook as the Comets closed out the win.
Mills went on to sweep through pool play to advance to tonight’s championship game of the tournament.
