AAA Sox continue to blank the opposition
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By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
MORRILTON — Though admittedly not against top-of-the-line competition, the Bryant Blacksox pitching staff continued a whitewash job that was extended to five games and three opponents as Scotty Yant pitched a one-hit shutout over five innings in a 19-0 romp over Morrilton Greenbay Packaging Tuesday, May 27.
Yant, who redshirted as a freshman at UALR this spring, hadn’t faced batters since fall ball in October. In four innings, he whiffed nine, walked one, hit one and didn’t give up a hit until a seeing-eye single up to center with two out in the fourth.
Jeff Carpenter, in his first appearance of the young season, retired the side in order in the fifth to close it down.
Bryant mashed out 16 hits including four by Travis Wood. Older brother B.J. Wood had two hits including a grand slam. Carpenter and Derek Chambers had two hits each as well.
Chambers, a standout for the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith in the spring, was making his first appearance for the Sox after being treated for a stress fracture in his leg, the result of shin splints.
“We’re 5-0 but we haven’t played a whole lot of competition,” allowed Bryant manager Craig Harrison. “But if you don’t give up any runs, you’re going to win a lot of games. I was glad to get Scotty some work. This (scheduling) was by design to gain confidence for some guys that haven’t played a whole lot. I’m satisfied where we are right now.”
“But we’re not going to see this kind of team for awhile now,” Harrison noted. “We’ve got North Little Rock, Conway and Benton our next three games. If we’re still (undefeated) after Friday night, then we’ve got something special going on. But I really think we’re going to find out what we’ve got during that stretch.”
The game got out of hand in the third inning when the Sox scored 11 times on nine hits and two Morrilton errors. Bryant had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when B.J. Wood walked, Carpenter singled and Chambers lashed a hard grounder that got past the Morrilton third baseman and into left.
But the Sox left the bases loaded then didn’t score in the second.
The third, however, began with a double down the right field line by Chambers. With one out, the floodgates opened. Travis Wood looped a single to left and Clay Jones walked to load the bags. David Moore’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
But a pitching change soon followed — Morrilton used six pitchers in the five-frame affair — Daniel Minton and Todd Bryan walked loaded the bases after Travis Wood had scored on a wild pitch.
An infield hit by B.J. Wood scored a run. Carpenter followed with a single that was misplayed in left allowing all three baserunners to score. Chambers singled in Carpenter then scored when A.J. Nixon’s single to center was botched.
A single by Travis Wood brought Nixon home. Jones doubled in a run and, after walks to Moore and Minton, scored on a single by Bryan to make it 12-0.
In the fourth, Travis Wood doubled in a run, then Moore and Daniel Price each singled one in before B.J. Wood crushed his second homer of the year to cap the scoring.
