By Rob Patrick
CONWAY, Ark. — In 20 games this season, Bryant Hornets pitchers had surrendered just five home runs but three of them were hit by the Conway Wampus Cats. Those came in the wild contest between the two rivals on March 17 in which Conway scored five times in the top of the eighth to take a 9-4 lead and Bryant scored six in the bottom of the inning to win, 10-9.
In fact, the Hornets hadn't given up the long ball since then going into Thursday's return engagement at The Field at Conway High School.
The Wampus Cats broke that streak with a pair of long balls. And this time, right-hander B.J. Lowe, aided by some improved defense, made them stand up for a 4-1 win.
The Hornets came into the game in first place in the 7A-Central Conference. With North Little Rock's 10-0 victory over Little Rock Catholic, the Charging Wildcats, 7-3, pull even with the Hornets (8-4) but lead on the loss side. Conway improved to 7-4 followed by Catholic (6-5), Van Buren (5-5 after a 7-0 win over Russellville), LR Central (6-6), Cabot (4-6) and Russellville (1-11).
Bryant plays Cabot and North Little Rock in its final two conference games next week as they vie for one of the top two spots in the league and the first-round bye that goes with them at the Class 7A State Tournament.
Despite Thursday's loss, they officially clinched a bid to the State Tournament thanks to Cabot's 3-2 win over Little Rock Central. [more]
Thursday's game with Conway was actually very much like the one in Bryant between the two teams except for Conway's defense. At Bryant, Lowe had Bryant shut out on one hit through three innings. In the fourth, however, a pair of errors opened the door for the Hornets to even the game up at 3-3. Two more contributed to Bryant's incredible eighth-inning rally.
This time, the Cats not only didn't commit an error, they robbed the Hornets of hits three or four times. Lowe took a three-hit shutout into the sixth and wound up going the distance. All seven of Bryant's hits were singles. Lowe walked no one.
Conway finished with just six hits but four of those were for extra bases including a solo homer by Josh Whitehurst and a game-clinching two-run shot by James Murphy in the sixth.
Now Bryant's surrendered just seven home runs in 21 games, five of them to Conway. (Van Buren hit the other two in a 5-3 Bryant win March 14.)
The Wampus Cats, 11-7 overall, have won seven of their last eight conference games since the 10-9 loss at Bryant.
Whitehurst's shot came with one out in the bottom of the second, clearing the fence in right-center with a bit of help from a steady breeze blowing from the left-field corner to the right-field corner. Murphy followed with a double but Bryant starter Kaleb Jobe retired the next two on groundouts to keep it 1-0.
Lowe, meanwhile, had surrendered a two-out single to Hunter Mayall in the first, a two-out single to Brady Butler in the second, and a one-out single to Justin Blankenship in the third.
It was still 1-0 going into the top of the fourth when Conway first baseman Jordan Cates robbed Mayall of another hit, feeding Lowe for the out at first. With two down, Cates made an even better play with a diving stop on a hot grounder off the bat of Tyler Sawyer. Again Lowe covered for the out to retire the side.
Jobe, meanwhile, had overcome a walk in the third and he managed that again in the home fourth.
In the fifth, Lowe hit Brennan Bullock with a pitch (the 10th time this season, Bullock's been plunked). Tyler Brown followed with a shot down the third-base line only to have third sacker Matt Lefler turn what might've been a double into the second out with a sprawling grab and accurate throw to first.
With Bullock at second (the first Hornet to get that far), Lowe got Blankenship to bounce to second, the only time in the game he retired the Hornets' senior outfielder.
In the bottom of the inning, Lefler followed up his sparkling defensive play with a lead-off single to center. Aaron Boucher battled Jobe for a walk then Wesley Hoover got a sacrifice bunt down to put runners at second and third. Lowe followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 but Jobe got Cates to bounce to Sawyer at short to keep it to that.
And the Hornets had the top of their order up in the sixth. They finally broke through against Lowe. Caleb Garrett looped a single to right-center and, after Garrett Bock flew out to center, Mayall lofted a fly down the left-field line. Whitehurst, the Conway left-fielder, was shading Mayall to left-center but made the long run to the foul line to make the catch. That proved crucial because Jobe, extending his hitting streak to 10, and Sawyer followed with singles that chased Garrett home to make it 2-1.
With runners at first and second, Brady Butler, who had doubled to the opposite field in the bottom of the eight to drive in the two runs that tied the March 17 game in the bottom of the eighth, battled with Lowe to a 3-1 count. Butler went oppo again on the next pitch but the ball hung up for Hoover to get under for the third out.
Jobe retired the first batter in the bottom of the sixth but then Whitehurst drilled a liner into the right-field corner for a triple. Bryant head coach Kirk Bock brought on Ben Wells to relieve as Murphy came to the plate. But, on Wells' third pitch, Murphy cracked a homer to make it 4-1.
Of course, with the previous meeting in mind, the Hornets were hardly ready to concede anything. Ironically, the same batter that started the six-run rally in the previous meeting, led off the top of the seventh on Thursday. But, this time, it was still Lowe on the hill instead of a reliever. Bullock fanned then Brown grounded to short. Blankenship kept his team's hopes alive with his second single but Garrett grounded into a force that ended the game.
The Hornets, 15-6, are scheduled for non-conference games before returning to league play on Tuesday. They host Woodlawn today at 5 then visit Sheridan on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game (weather-permitting) before hosting Watson Chapel on Monday, April 20, with JV games following each varsity contest. Cabot visits on Tuesday. Thursday's game will be in North Little Rock.
CONWAY 4, BRYANT 1
Hornets (15-6, 8-4) Wampus Cats (11-7, 7-4)
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Garrett, dh 4 1 1 0 Boucher, ss 2 0 0 0
Bock, cf 3 0 0 0 Hoover, rf 1 0 0 0
Mayall, 3b 3 0 1 0 Lowe, p 2 0 1 1
Jobe, p-c 3 0 1 0 Magee, cr 0 0 0 0
Wade, cr 0 0 0 0 Cates, 1b 3 0 0 0
Sawyer, ss 3 0 1 1 Mann, dh 3 0 0 0
Butler, 1b 3 0 1 0 Whitehurst, lf 3 2 2 1
Bullock, lf 2 0 0 0 Murphy, cf 2 1 2 2
Brown, 2b 3 0 0 0 Blodgett, c 3 0 0 0
Blankenship, rf 3 0 2 0 Lefler, 3b 3 1 1 0
Ellis, c 0 0 0 0 Tague, 2b 0 0 0 0
Wells, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 27 1 7 1 Totals 22 4 6 4
BRYANT 000 001 0 — 1
Conway 010 012 x — 4
E—none. LOB—Bryant 6, Conway 5. 2B—Murphy. 3B—Whitehurst. HR—Whitehurst, Murphy. S—Hoover. SF—Lowe.
ip r er h bb so
Bryant
Jobe (L, 1-1) 5.1 3 3 5 3 1
Wells 0.2 1 1 1 0 0
Conway
Lowe (W) 7 1 1 7 0 2
HBP—Bullock (by Lowe). WP—Jobe.
