McGEHEE — After trailing 9-0 and 11-2, the Bryant 12-year-old Cal Ripkins All-Stars (46/60), rallied for five runs in the fifth and two in the sixth only to come up short in the end as they suffered an 11-9 loss to El Dorado in the second round of State tournament play on Saturday.
Bryant was scheduled to play Benton in an elimination game today at 5.
The Bryant 12-year-olds, who play on a diamond with 46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot basepaths, are coached by Sam Breeding and include Sebastian Arias, Dakota Besancon, Trey Breeding, Brandon Carter, Destin Davis, Tre Devis, Austin Green, Clifton Hampton, Andrew Kincaid, Blaine Knight, Hunter Lawhon and Jimbo Seale.[more]
Kincaid ended up with three of Bryant’s seven hits in the game. Carter belted a grand slam to highlight the fifth-inning rally. Green, Breeding and Besancon each had a hit.
A two-run homer after a trio of errors produced a run in the top of the first helped El Dorado get off to a fast start.
Bryant’s first four batters, meanwhile, struck out.
Breeding, the starter on the mound for Bryant, worked around a lead-off single in the second and his teammates made some noise in the bottom of the inning when, with two down, Besancon singled and Davis was hit by a pitch. Both, however, were stranded.
Besancon relieved for Bryant in the third inning and a third-strike wild pitch opened the gates for El Dorado’s big inning. A pair of walks followed then a two-run single. After a strikeout, another single loaded the bases and a double drove in two more.
Knight took over on the mound but was greeted by a two-run single that made it 9-0 before Knight got a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.
Bryant answered with two in the bottom of the inning. Green walked and Breeding singled with one out. With two down, Kincaid delivered a two-run single. Besancon drew a free pass but El Dorado got out of the inning with no further damage.
And, In the fourth, El Dorado got those two runs back with the help of a trio of Bryant errors.
Despite a pair of walks, Bryant was unable to cut into the margin in the bottom of the fourth but, after Kincaid relieved and worked a scoreless fifth, the Bryant Stars rallied.
With one out, Kincaid singled and beat a throw to second on a grounder by Lawhon. A pair of walks followed to force in a run then Carter unloaded to cut the lead to 11-7.
Kincaid eased to a 1-2-3 sixth, striking out two to get Bryant back to the plate in short order in the bottom of the inning. Seale’s drive to left was misplayed to start the inning allowing him to get to second. Kincaid then singled him in. A pair of passed balls allowed Kincaid to reach third and he scored from there on a groundout to second by Besancon for the second out. A pitch later, a tap back to the mound ended the contest.
