Senior Black Sox advance with 3-2 win over Memphis team in quarterfinal thriller
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting 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).
MEMPHIS — Brandan Warner cracked a two-run single with two out in the bottom of the seventh to complete a three-run rally and a walk-off win as the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team stunned the Memphis Tigers 18-and-under team at the at Keith Hagan Memorial All American wood bat tournament on Wednesday.
Chase Tucker powered into homeplate to score the winning run for Bryant, which advanced to the semifinals of the tournament against the Evansville Wolfpack with the victory.
The Sox trailed 2-0 going into the last of the seventh. Trevor Ezell opened the inning with a double. With one out, walks were issued to Blake Patterson and Hayden Lessenberry to load the bases. Tucker bounced to third and it resulted in a force at the plate for the second out. Trey Breeding followed with a shot to third that was misplayed allowing Patterson to score Bryant’s first run. A pitch later, Warner came through with a knock that tied it when Lessenberry scored and won it when Tucker got to the plate.
The game was scoreless through five innings with Bryant’s right-hander Zach Jackson limiting the Tigers to just one hit while the Sox managed just two singles in the fourth.
Jackson retired the first two in the sixth then issued back-to-back walks. A double steal and a two-out error allowed Memphis to score its two tallies. Patterson relieved and ended the inning with a strikeout. He set the Tigers down in order in the top of the seventh.
The Sox had threats in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. With one out in the fourth, Breeding and Warner singled. Harrison Dale, running for Breeding the Bryant catcher, rounded second and the Memphis centerfielder threw in behind him before he could get back to the bag.
In the fifth, Ezell reached on an error with one out and stole second. A two-out walk to Patterson put two on but Memphis wriggled off the hook. A two-out single by Warner in the fifth was followed by an error that allowed Justin Emmerling to reach base but both were stranded.
Jackson, meanwhile, allowed a one-out single in the first then, with two out in the second, walked a pair around a hit batsman to load the bases. But the second of his six strikeouts ended the threat.
He would pitch around a two-out error in the third and, in the fifth, a one-out walk and a single.
The win improved the Sox to 25-3.
