Pitcher’s duel blows up in sixth; Hornets run away at Sheridan
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).
SHERIDAN — For five innings of a South Conference game Friday night, Blaine Knight of Bryant and Tyler Raney of Sheridan were locked in a scoreless duel at Oliver Williams Field.
Raney and the Yellowjackets got out of a jam in the top of the fifth thanks in large part to a call on the bases that went their way. Then Knight and the Hornets got out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth thanks in large part to a call on the bases that went their way.
The Hornets responded to their escape, however, with an eight-run sixth in which only one of the four hits left the infield as that duel turned into a rout. Bryant erupted for seven more in the top of the seventh turning the pitcher’s duel into a 15-0 rout.
The Hornets, after being limited to three hits in five frames wound up with 13 in the game, including three each from Trevor Ezell and Chase Tucker. Jason Hastings and Dalton Holt added two apiece.
Knight allowed four hits over six innings of shutout ball. He fanned nine and walked three. Harrison Dale closed out the win in the bottom of the seventh, allowing a fifth hit but throwing a two-ball and ending the game with a strikeout as the Hornets improved to 3-1 in conference play.
Sheridan, which entered the week 2-0 in the league with wins over Lake Hamilton and El Dorado, fell to 2-2. The loss to Bryant came on the heels of a 6-2 loss at Benton on Tuesday.
The Hornets host Texarkana in their next league contest on Tuesday, April 8. Sheridan figures to bounce back in a doubleheader against hapless Little Rock J.A. Fair.
Friday’s was a game in which if it was close, it was an out. And it went both ways. Both teams had close calls go against them including the fifth.
In the top of the inning, Ezell bounced a single into right with two down and hustled to second on a pitch in the dirt that was blocked up the first-base line by Sheridan catcher Tadd Daggett. Drew Tipton followed with a slow roller to the Jackets’ Lathan Wylie at short. Wylie charged and threw as the speedy Tipton sprinted down the line. As had been the case all evening (including a bunt by Tipton in the third), the close call went the defense’s way even though it looked like he’d beaten the throw.
That ended the threat.
Hornets head coach Kirk Bock came out and had a long discussion with the base umpire. After a bit, the home plate umpire, who never left his position, grew impatient and, after hollering down the line a couple of times, decided Bock was delaying the game and declared ball one on David Vilches, Sheridan’s first batter in the evening.
Bock, who said later he never heard the home plate umpire say anything, had returned to the dugout and one of his coaches told him that a ball had been called. A heated discussion with the home plate umpire commenced.
With both teams fired up by the proceedings, Knight struck out Vilches then got Brady Bibb to fly to shallow left. But a two-out walk to Daggett was followed by solid singles from Raney and Hunter Strong to load the bases. With clean-up hitter Evan Thompson at the plate, Knight got a pair of strikes in and was on the verge of getting out of the inning. But he didn’t have to throw another pitch.
Just moments after the Sheridan base-runners had been reminded of Bryant’s variety of pick-off plays, Raney was caught a bit too far off second. Ezell, the Hornet shortstop, slipped in behind him and Knight whirled and fired a strike to nab him and end the threat.
“We’ve got the hitter 0-2 and the bases juiced and it was kind of iffy but, I’m — if they’re going to give me something, we’re going to try to take it,” said Bock. “Blaine did a tremendous job. It was a good move and a good call by Trevor.”
To lead off the sixth, Tucker pulled a grounder into the hole on the left side. Wylie got to it but couldn’t get off a strong throw and there was no play at first that might’ve gone the defense’s way this time.
Trey Breeding followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt. Raney fielded it and appeared to have a play at second. But his throw sailed into center and both Tucker and Breeding were aboard safely.
With Connor Tatum in the game to run for Breeding, the Hornets’ catcher, Hastings came to the plate. He too, looking to sacrifice, got a bunt down — a perfect one in fact. Raney couldn’t field it cleanly initially but wouldn’t have had a play had he done so.
So, with the bases loaded, Holt came to the plate and, things went from bad to worse for Raney and the Jackets. On an 0-1 pitch, Holt was hit, forcing in the game’s first run.
Sheridan coach Mike Moore protested that Holt had leaned into the pitch but gained no satisfaction as the inning continued with Evan Lee at the plate for the Hornets. The DH rolled one to the right side and it looked like Bryant would get another run. Reese Lisenbey, the second baseman, charged the ball and it appeared he tried to scoop it up and apply a tag on Holt who was headed for second. But Lisenbey couldn’t control the ball and not only did the run score but Sheridan was unable to get one out much less two.
A pitch later, Raney struck Brandan Warner with a pitch and it was 3-0 with the bags still full and no one out.
To that point, the ball hadn’t left the infield but, with the defense in trying to cut off a play at the plate, Korey Thompson looped one over their heads into center for an RBI single, making it 4-0.
Moore decided to change pitchers at that point. Brady Bibb came in from left field but his first delivery was wild, allowing Lee to scramble home. He went on to walk Ezell to load the bases again for Tipton, who delivered a sacrifice fly to left.
Tucker followed with his second infield hit of the inning, driving home Thompson and making it 7-0. And when he wandered off the bag and drew a pickoff throw, Ezell broke for the plate. Tucker was tagged out but the throw home was too late and Bryant had an 8-0 lead.
Bibb hit Breeding with a pitch but escaped without further damage as Hastings skied out to deep center.
Given the luxurious runs support, Knight retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, fanning the last two he would face in the game.
Bryant’s seventh began with solid base hits by Holt and Lee. With one out, Thompson drew a walk and the Yellowjackets were faced with another bases-loaded jam. Bibb walked Ezell to force in a run then Justin Emmerling yanked one inside the line at third and into the corner for a two-run double, bumping the lead to 11-0.
Tucker’s third hit in the last two innings was an RBI single to right off the third Sheridan pitcher, Tyler McKinzie. Though Tucker was forced at second on C.J. Phillips’ grounder, Emmerling scored.
Hastings lashed a single to left then Holt ripped a double, driving in the final two runs.
“It just took us a while to get on him so we had to try to create some things and it happened to work out for us,” Bock said of the sixth inning uprising. “Once we got in rhythm right there, we hit the ball real well.”
Strong had two hits for Sheridan, the first came with two outs in the opening inning but, when he tried to steal second, Breeding had the ball there waiting for him with Thompson over from second to take the throw.
In the second, Evan Thompson reached on an error and Wylie singled but Knight struck out the next five batters, not only to get out of the second but get a leg up on retiring the side in the third.
With two out in the third, though, Raney appeared to have a base hit on a bouncer up the middle. But, showing amazing range, Korey Thompson got to it behind the bag, whirled and flung a throw towards Holt at first. It was a close play so Raney was out.
The Hornets had come up on the short end of a pair of those close calls in the top of the third when Korey Thompson walked, Ezell singled and Tipton sacrificed. That’s when Tipton and the Bryant fans thought he’d beaten it out the first time.
And, with two down, Breeding hit a tapper to short that also concluded with a bang-bang play at first to end the inning.
Raney eased through a 1-2-3 fourth then Knight pitched around a pair of walks in the home half.
HORNETS 15, YELLOWJACKETS 0
BRYANT ab r h bi SHERIDAN ab r h bi
Ezell, ss 3 2 3 1 Daggett, c 2 0 0 0
Tipton, lf 2 0 0 1 Raney, p-ss-1b 3 0 1 0
Emmerling, ph 1 1 1 2 Strong, cf 3 0 2 0
Tucker, cf 4 1 3 2 E.Thompson,dh 2 0 0 0
Breeding, c 3 0 0 0 Wylie, ss-3b 3 0 1 0
Tatum, cr 0 1 0 0 Lisenbey, 2b 2 0 0 0
Phillips, ph 1 1 0 1 McKinzie, 1b-p 3 0 1 0
Hastings, rf 5 2 2 0 Vilches, 3b-lf 3 0 0 0
Holt, 1b 4 2 2 3 Bibb, lf-p 3 0 0 0
Lee, dh 5 2 1 1 Walker, rf 0 0 0 0
Warner, 3b 3 1 0 0
K.Thompson2b 2 2 1 1
Totals 33 15 13 12 Totals 24 0 5 0
BRYANT 000 008 7 — 15
Sheridan 000 000 0 — 0
E—Ezell, Raney, Lisenbey. DP—Bryant 1. LOB—Bryant 7, Sheridan 6. 2B—Emmerling, Holt. S—Tipton. SF—Tipton.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
BRYANT
Knight (W) 6 0 0 4 3 9
Dale 1 0 0 1 0 1
Sheridan
Raney (L) 5 7 4 6 2 2
Bibb 1.1 6 6 5 3 0
McKinzie 0.2 2 2 2 0 0
HBP—Holt, Warner (by Raney), Breeding (by Bibb). WP—Raney 2, Bibb.
