Sox top Benton to go 8-0
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).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
After the Bryant Blacksox AAA American Legion team won its first five games, manager Craig Harrison was happy but not necessarily impressed. He scheduled those games against teams he felt relatively certain his Sox would beat — Benton’s fledgling Big Red Fina team, McGehee and Morrilton — because he wanted to play a lot of people, knock the rust off the ones that hadn’t played in awhile and build some confidence.
“I told somebody ‘We’re 5-0 but we haven’t played anybody,’” he recalled. “I said, ‘If I’m standing here Friday night and we’re still undefeated, then we’ve got something special.’ I told our players that.”
The Sox, apparently, have something special because as Harrison stood there talking, his team was 8-0 following a 3-1 win over Benton (Blue) McClendon’s at Bryant High School Field Friday night.
“You can say that North Little Rock didn’t have all their guys and Conway’s all 17-year-olds and Benton didn’t have all their guys,” he added, referring to wins on the previous two nights over teams as highly-regarded as McClendon’s. “I don’t care. My guys are here and we’re going to play. This will help us.”
“We’ve got a good team,” Harrison asserted. “I’m very proud of my guys.”
What will really help too is more pitching like that turned in by Travis Wood and Scott Yant, who combined on a one-hitter. Wood, a 16-year old lefty, held Benton hitless for 4 2/3 innings. An infield hit by Daniel Guffey was not only the lone safety for Benton, it also drove in the team’s only run.
At the time, that tied the game as Benton starter Aaron Moulton had limited the Sox to one run on four hits to that point. Wood’s errant throw to first on a bunt by Josh Hendricks opened the inning. Seth Brown sacrificed him to second and he took third when shortstop B.J. Wood, Travis’ older brother, robbed Kyle Webb of a hit with the help of a nice scoop out of the dirt by first baseman Derek Chambers.
Guffey then hit a bouncer that second sacker Andrew Norman flagged down with a nice back-hand stab. But, with his momentum going away from first, Norman couldn’t get enough on the throw to nail the speedy Guffey and the run scored.
Wood picked off Guffey to end the inning then worked around a walk in the sixth, recording his eighth and ninth strikeouts along the way.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Sox regained the upper hand. Norman’s one-out single got things revved up. After a wild pitch moved him to second, Dustin Easterly, who came into the game hitting a scorching .750, slapped a single to left. Moulton gave way to Tim Poe as Todd Bryan came to the plate. With the infield in, Bryan greeted the new hurler by fighting off an 0-2 pitch and looping it into shallow right for an RBI single.
Wood followed with a grounder to first baseman Leighton Hardin. A throw to second forced Bryan but a return peg from shortstop Heath Roseberry sailed beyond Hardin’s reach and Wood scored.
It was a key insurance run, taking some of the pressure off the situation in the top of the seventh when Yant relieved. He struck out the first batter, Roseberry, but the third strike was in the dirt. Easterly scrambled after it but threw wildly to first.
Roseberry took second on a grounder to third by Hendricks, third on a bouncer to first by pinch-hitter Drew Fugitt and was stranded there when Yant speared a shot up the middle off Webb’s bat to end the game.
“This was a league game and the more league games we can get under our belt right now, the better off we are in the seeding for the District (tournament),” said Harrison, whose team improved to 3-0 in league games with the win. “It was a great game. When you get pitching like that, it’s exciting. Travis threw an outstanding game. He’s a good young pitcher.
“We wanted to take care of him there,” Harrison noted. “He threw 95 pitches. He was cruisin’. A lot of guys would’ve ran him back out there (for the seventh). I didn’t for two reasons: first, I want to save his arm and, second, I’m confidant with Yant. I know Scotty’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to get people out. He showed his leadership. A lesser guy would’ve let the error bother him. He said, ‘Hey, here I go.’ That’s the leadership we need on this team.”
The Sox had initially taken the lead in the second when Wood walked, Clay Jones singled and Norman walked. Benton’s defense played back and when Easterly grounded to third, Wood scored on the play to first.
Wood had pitched around and error and a walk in the first then retired 10 in a row, seven on strikes before the fifth-inning error.
