By ROB PATRICK
Shutouts were the order of the day as the 2009 14-year-old Babe Ruth Southwest Regional tournament got underway at Bryant High School. All four games were shutouts.
White Hall's Chris Smith blanked Seminole, Texas on two hits in a closer-than-that opener which White Hall won 9-0.
Noah Burks tossed a two-hitter over five innings in Little Rock Junior Deputy's 11-0 win over Madisonville, La.
Spencer McClure and Jonathan Smith combined on a one-hitter over five innings for Fort Smith Church in a 10-0 victory over Tri-County, Texas.
And in the game of the day, Nederland, Texas right-hander Carson Raines stopped host Bryant on one hit in a 2-0 victory that ended with the potential tying runs in scoring position.
The results produced this schedule on Saturday:[more]
At noon, Nederland will return to play McComb, Miss.; at 2:30, Bryant takes on Seminole, Texas in an elimination game. At 5, Tri-County plays the loser of the McComb-Nederland game; and, at 7:30, Madisonville plays the winner of the Bryant-Seminole contest.
White Hall will play Little Rock in one winners bracket game on Sunday at noon. In the other, Fort Smith awaits the winner of the Nederland-McComb game at 2:30. Two more elimination games will follow on Sunday at 5 and 7:30.
The tournament will eventually produce an entrant into the Babe Ruth World Series which will be played in Appleton, Wis., beginning Aug. 22.
Nederland 2, Bryant 0
Raines walked six and struck out eight in his shutout. The only Bryant hit was a bloop single to right by Josh Davis with one out in the bottom of the fifth, just before a 14-minute interruption when the outfield lights went out.
Bryant starter Tyler Nelson was nearly just as effective. He struck out the side in the first then the second started innocently enough with a roller to the right side by Canton Richard who finished with two of his team's five hits. A late throw on the play allowed Richard to take second and he advanced to third on a grounder to the right side by Mitchell Sanderson. Seth Barrow followed with another grounder to second and a late, errant throw home allowed him to take second as Richard scored.
Aaron Sampere singled to put runners at first and third then the next two batters, Michael Shaw and Jake Janise, were hit by pitches forcing in the second run.
Nelson got lead-off man Justin Sperl to bounce back to the mound for a force at the plate then he struck out Raines to leave the bases loaded.
Nelson pitched around a double by Richard and a walk to Barrow in the third and overcame a one-out single by Corbin Stampley in the fifth. In the sixth, Barrow led off with a single, Sampere sacrificed and, after Nelson recorded his ninth strikeout, a walk to pinch-hitter Von Campbell brought manager Jimmy Parker to the mound for a change. Justin Vincent relieved and struck out Sperl to end the threat.
He overcome a pair of walks in the top of the seventh to keep it 2-0.
In the bottom of the the seventh, Raines retired the first two then issued a walk to Zach Cambron. Tryce Schalchlin, who started in that spot, returned as a pinch-runner and, Raines walked Davis as his pitch count eclipsed 100. With lead-off man Hayden Daniel at the plate, Raines uncorked a wild pitch to allow the runners to move to second and third. Daniel, meanwhile, fouled off a tough 2-2 pitch only to take a third strike on the outside corner on the next delivery.
Bryant had threatened in the first when, with two down, Marcus Wilson walked and Daniel Richards singled, but Raines induced a pop to second to escape.
He then worked around a one-out walk to Evan Ethridge in the second; and two out walk to Wilson in the thrid; a lead-off pass to Tyler Green in the fourth and Davis's hit in the fifth.
Along the way, Daniel, Richards and Trent Rivers each hit deep shots to left field that might've been home runs in a park less spacious that Bryant High School Field. All three were hauled in by Barrow.
Fort Smith 10, Tri-County 0
McClure had a no-hitter until, with two out in the fourth, Brett Rohde slapped a single to right. Rohde stole second but was then picked off to end the inning. Smith took over in the fifth and retired the side in order.
The only other Tri-County base-runners were Reagan McAda, who walked with two down in the second, and Cade Brewer, who reached on an error in the third but was later picked off as well.
Fort Smith grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second when, with one down, Cole Teague doubled into the left-field corner then Smith and Parker Johnson each reached on an error, loading the bases for Dakota Suttles who walked to force in a run. With two down, Seth Youngblood singled in a run then Will Harris was hit by a pitch to force in the third tally.
In the third, Teague was hit by a pitch with one down then Smith walked. Johnson reached on a fielder's choice then Suttles beat out an infield hit to drive in a run. A second scored on an errant throw on the play to make it 5-0.
Fort Smith made it a run-rule win with five in the fifth, aided by four errors. Youngblood and Harris each had RBI singles.
All 10 Fort Smith runs were unearned.
Little Rock Junior Deputy 11, Madisonville, La. 0
Burks gave up a single to Kyle Hamer in the third and a base hit to Hunter Ward in the fifth. He walked two and struck out three.
Offensively, Logan Stafford led Little Rock with a 4-for-4 day, driving in five runs including three on a bases-loaded triple in the game-clinching four-run fifth.
Little Rock took a 1-0 lead in the first on singles by Garrison Marshall and Stafford and a two-out RBI double by Colin Carrone. In the second, Michael McMurray walked to lead off. Tyler Woods got a good bunt down and when third base was left unoccupied after the throw to first for the out, McMurray headed that way. And when a return throw was wild, he scored.
Later in the inning, Marshall reached on an error, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Stafford's second hit.
A four-run fourth put Little Rock in command. Daniel Roberts singled, McMurray beat out a bunt for a hit and Woods walked to load the bases. With one down, Marshall's infield hit got a run home before Michael Haun singled in a pair. Woods scored on an infield hit by Stafford to make it 7-0.
Madisonville had its best opportunity to score in the third when Mike Hess and Eric Henning drew walks and Kyle Hamer singled to load the bases with one out. But Burks induced a pop up to Marshall at short and a bouncer to McMurray at first to get off the hook.
He then retired seven in a row before Henning's two-out single in the fifth.
Little Rock made it a run-rule win with four in the seventh. A walk to Tanner Wagner, a hit batsman that got David Griffin aboard and a walk to Haun with one out loaded the bags for Stafford who plugged in the gap in left-center for a three-run triple. He scored too on an errant throw.
White Hall 9, Seminole, Texas 0
This was a tight duel between Smith and Seminole lefty Nicky Guzman. White Hall eked out an unearned run in the first after Guzman had recorded the first two of his 12 strikeouts in the game. Hunter Hale beat out an infield hit the Joseph Stewart and Tyler Carr walked. With Clay Cannon at the plate, an errant pickoff throw to third allowed Hale to score.
And it stayed 1-0 through six innings. Guzman issued eight walks and hit a pair of batters so White Hall had runners on the bases but couldn't add to the lead until the top of the seventh when eight crossed the plate.
Smith, meanwhile, surrendered a one-out single to Andy Luna in the first then retired the next nine batters. Seven of the first eight outs came on strikeouts. Smith went on to fan 11 while walking just one.
His streak was interrupted in the fourth when Henry Knelson's fly to center was misplayed. But he worked around that and another error to start the fifth. In the sixth, Luna singled again with one down and, after Knelson walked, a wild pitch put runners at second and third — the potential tying and winning runs. But Smith got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop to first.
Guzman had overcome walks to Justin McCarty and Michael Acosta in the second. In the third, Stewart beat out an infield hit, stole second and, after Carr was hit by a pitch, took third on a long fly to the left-field corner that Roman Ruiz raced off an caught, robbing him of an extra-base hit that would've scored two. McCarty walked but Stewart was picked off third to end the inning.
Guzman struck out the side around walks to Landon Reede and Smith in the fourth then retired seven in a row before surrendering a double to Reed to start the eight-run seventh. Smith walked and, with one out, so did Stewart. With his pitch count at 138, Guzman gave way to Luna who was greeted by Carr's bloop single to center which made it 2-0. Cannon bounced into a force at the plate for the second out but a throw to first in hopes of a doubleplay that would've ended the inning, sailed down the line and two runs scored. Cannon scored on a wild pitch then the snowball commenced to rolling again.
McCarty walked and scored on a double by Jeremy Sprinkle. Acosta walked and Reed parachuted a two-run single into shallow right. He stole second and scored the final run on a base hit by Smith.
The White Hall right-hander then ended with with a 1-2-3 seventh.
