CONWAY — The core of the Bryant Black Sox and their manager Darren Hurt know full well what it feels like to finish second at the Senior American Legion MidSouth Regional Tournament. In 2014, the Sox came within a couple of outs or a hit or two away from capturing the MidSouth title and advancing to the Legion World Series.
It was an excruciating experience. They needed one win out of two games on the final day but arm-weary, the Sox gave out and fell victim to a come-from-behind effort by a team from Columbia, Tenn.
Hurt was not going to let that happen again if he could help it when the Sox made it all the way back to the 2015 Regional at Warrior Field at Hendrix College. He decided, particularly after losing the Regional opener, to save Zach “Panda” Jackson, his most accomplished pitcher available.
“The plan was we’re going to play it to win it,” he explained. “And we thought, in order to win it, we needed to have him on Sunday.”
Unfortunately, the Black Sox didn’t make it to Sunday’s championship round. Taking on the last unbeaten team of the tournament Retif Oil of New Orleans on Saturday, the Sox grabbed a 6-2 lead only to have the hard-hitting Louisianans storm back, banging out 21 hits in the game, to win 11-6.
Bryant’s season ends with a 38-9-2 record. New Orleans was set to play on Sunday for the title and the World Series trip against the Southwest Shockers of Lawton, Okla., a team they defeated on Friday in the winners bracket final.
“We thought about using (Jackson) today and Pat (Blake Patterson) tomorrow but we knew that this was the game where they (New Orleans) weren’t going to throw their best,” Hurt explained, noting that, as the last unbeaten, Retif Oil already had a berth in the finals secured before playing the Sox. “So this was a game where we thought we were going to score some runs; therefore, it was our better chance because they’re going to throw one of their big guns tomorrow and we needed to match them with Panda to win it.”
In other words, whether they finish second, third or eighth, anything short of the championship was kind of all the same.
“That’s the way we played it and, if I had it to do over again, I’d play it the same way,” Hurt declared. “We didn’t get it done tonight but tomorrow the odds were really going to be against us without Panda.
“We thought we could beat Oklahoma throwing our staff, starting with (Jason) Hastings,” the coach said, referring to the fact that, had the Sox won on Saturday, they would’ve had to beat the Lawton team on Sunday to get another shot at Louisiana in the championship game. “But to beat this club (Retif) with one of their big arms on the mound (Sunday), we thought we had to have Panda.”
Hurt had confidence that his staff of pitchers was deep enough to cobble together a run to the finals as other teams scrambled for fresh arms to throw against them. Even Saturday, they jumped on New Orleans starter Todd Crabtree.
Actually, Bryant won the State crown and made it to the final four at the Regional with another major cog in their success this season unavailable. Lefty Evan Lee, who was not only 6-0 with an 0.42 earned run average during the season but also hit a sizzling .460, was ruled ineligible for both tournaments by American Legion Baseball after he accepted an invitation to tryout for the Area Code Games.
Hurt appealed the decision, noting that Lee had played over 120 games in the Bryant Legion program over the last three summers, noting that the rule against the tryout and other showcases was intended to keep players from jumping in and out of Legion for showcases and such. The appeal was denied, however.
Hurt expressed his pride in his players, saying, “They did a great job. These guys play the game hard. They battle. They fight. Even there at the end, we were in the dugout the last inning (trailing 11-6). They’ve got the rally caps on and they’re ready to go to war.
“We didn’t get it done and I hate it for them because it’s a great group of kids and it’s the last time I’m going to get to coach a bunch of them,” he added. “That’s disappointing.”
As they had on Friday, the Black Sox broke out early, scoring in three of the first four turns at the plate in support of Patterson, who was coming back after pitching three efficient innings on Thursday.
In the first, Drew Tipton drew a lead-off walk, stole second, advanced to third on Patterson’s bouncer to the right side and scored on a wild pitch.
The Bryant starter worked around a pair of hits in the bottom of the first.
In the second, Jason Hastings rapped the first of his three hits. Moments later, Darren Hurt called for the hit-and-run and son Dylan Hurt chopped one over the Crabtree’s head for a hit. A bunt single by Logan Allen loaded the bases. Seth Tucker picked up an RBI with a walk then Connor Tatum bounced into a force at second to drive in a second tally.
The Sox had a chance to get more when Brandan Warner walked to load the bases but Crabtree limited the damage by ending the inning with a strikeout.
The 3-0 lead was cut to 3-2 in the home second. Patterson fanned Michael Specich and came within a strike of retiring Jake Licciardi and Josh Schmidt only to have both of them whack singles.
Those were two of a whopping seven two-strike hits New Orleans came up with in the game.
After a passed ball, Harrison Daste singled in a run and Nick Ray got one home with a sacrifice fly.
“They’re a good-hitting team and they hit it all the way through the order,” Darren Hurt acknowledged. “The two-out hits killed us tonight. We get two outs and they’d still scratch two or three runs. They’re just tough.”
Bryant, however, seemed to be in great position after scoring three more runs in the fourth. Tatum walked and Tipton lashed a single to right. Warner got a bunt down that Crabtree fielded but followed with a wild throw to first. Tatum was able to score.
With runners at second and third, Patterson walked. Hayden Fuentes relieved and Trey Breeding greeted him with a sacrifice fly. Hastings singled and it was 6-2.
Despite having runners at the corners and just one out, however, Bryant was unable to add on. Fuentes not only got out of that jam but finished with four scoreless inning of relief.
The initial rally by New Orleans commenced in the bottom of the fifth. Consecutive singles by Brandon Briuglio, Ben Hess and Trent Forshag produced a run. Another scored when Scott Crabtree grounded into a force at second.
A walk to Specich on a close 3-2 pitch loaded the bases for Licciardi who cracked a two-strike single to make it 6-4.
Hess, Forshag and Licciardi finished the game with four hits apiece.
Devin Dupree relieved Breeding and had a 2-2 count on Schmidt before he lined the next pitch for an RBI single, cutting the lead to a run.
Dupree induced a pop to short to retire Daste. But Ray came up next and delivered a two-out knock that drove in the tying and go-ahead runs. Schmidt was caught in a rundown between second and third. When he was tagged out, the game went to the sixth with New Orleans ahead for the first time in the contest.
Fuentes followed up with a shutdown inning, retiring the heart of the Bryant line-up in order.
In the seventh, Fuentes walked Dupree with two away then Tatum beat out his second hit of the game but both were stranded.
New Orleans, in turn, pushed in four insurance runs on five hits, four of which came after two were out. Two of them came on two-strike pitches including the capper, a two-run single by Forshag.
Beaux Bonvillain came on to get the final out for the Sox then struck out the side around a two-out walk in the eighth.
But the Sox were unable to break through against Fuentes who wound up retiring seven of the last eight batters, working around an error.
It’s interesting to note that of the eight teams at the Regional, only Bryant and Retif Oil were made up entirely of players from a single high school. The Louisiana players all were members of the program at Jesuit High School. All of the Sox played at Bryant High School.
And it’s worth noting that there was a time when a Bryant team getting to a State Tournament and making a bid for a title was a significant accomplishment, though they managed it regularly. With teams now reaching the Regional for the third time in the last four years and vying for a trip to the World Series, that has now become the norm and the expectation for the Bryant Black Sox.
The proverbial bar has been raised.
