HARRISON — Well, the opponents scored this time but the Bryant 9-and-under All-Stars revved up the offense to finish 3-0 in pool play at the Cal Ripken Southwest Regional Tournament at the Community First Sports Complex on Friday. Bryant dismissed the Mountain Home All-Stars, 21-2, and advances to bracket play
They were set to begin bracket play on Saturday.
The Bryant 9’s, managed by Brad Chism, include John Thomas Allen, Brayden Beenken, Gavyn Benson, Eli Berry, Carter Brown, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Preston Howlett, Landon Jackson, E.J. Keith, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout and Hudson Thomason.
A 13-run fourth made Friday’s game a romp after Bryant had already built an 8-1 advantage over three frames.
Stout and Chism combined to limit Mountain Home to two hits. Stout worked into the second inning, allowing a run while walking five and fanning three. Chism took over and got the final out of the second then allowing a run on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts over the final two frames.
Bryant finished with just five hits as Mountain Home pitchers issued a whopping 15 walks. Defensively, Mountain Home committed six errors.
Thomason had three of those five hits. He drove in five runs. Keith and Allen each had hits as well.
An error started a four-run first as Allen reached. Benson walked and, after both runners moved up on a passed ball, Stout picked up an RBI with a grounder to short.
With two down, Keith blooped a single to left, putting two aboard for Heidelberg. His grounder to third was booted and the bases were loaded. Thomason capped off the inning with a two-run single to left.
Mountain Home got on the board in the home first without a hit only to have Bryant counter with three more tallies in the top of the second. Beenken and Brown started the Bryant uprising with walks. Beenken scored on a passed ball then Brown came home on a base hit by Allen.
With two away, Stout and Speer waited out walks. Allen scored on a passed ball and it was 7-1.
The eighth run scored in the top of the third when Thomason walked, reached second then third on passed balls and scored on an error.
Allen was hit by a pitch to start the fourth. Benson walked and an error allowed a run in. Chism walked and stole second and, with one out, Keith was plunked. A wild pitch got Benson home.
Heidelberg walked to fill the bags again. A passed ball allowed Chism to score then Keith followed on an errant throw to the pitcher covering the plate. Thomson added to his RBI total with a base hit, making it 13-1.
Jackson walked so when Howlett’s grounder drew a wild throw both Thomason and Jackson scored. Free passes were then issued to Brown, Berry, Benson, Chism and Speer as the lead ballooned to 18-1.
Another run scored when Heidelberg reached base then Thomason capped things off with a two-run single.
Mountain Home used a double, a pair of walks and a two-out single to push its second run home before the game concluded on a fly to Howlett in right.
