Senior Black Sox in Memphis: Pool play
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).
Photos courtesy of Samantha Breeding
MEMPHIS — In five pool games at the annual Keith Hagan Memorial All-America Classic, pitchers for the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team turned in three shutouts and allowed just one run each in the two others.
The Sox, still without sidelined center fielder Drew Tipton (hamstring), swept the five games to win the pool, advancing as the top seed for bracket play.
Here are more details about each game:
Bryant 8, St. Louis Naturals 0
Alex Shurtleff fired a three-hitter over six innings without a walk. He fanned three and only needed 52 pitches. St. Louis managed two singles in the second inning and another in the third then finished by retiring 11 in a row.
Offensively, the Sox were paced by Blake Patterson, who was 3 for 3 with two triples and two runs batted in. Dylan Hurt added two hits and Connor Tatum drove in a pair.
The game was scoreless until the third when Logan Allen walked and Tatum sacrificed him to second. After moving up on a wild pitch, Allen scored on a clutch two-out single by Hurt. Patterson singled and Evan Lee walked to load the bases but a strikeout ended the threat.
In the bottom of the third, the Naturals managed their final hit of the game, a lead-off single to left by Jacot Eccher. But Sox catcher Trey Breeding cut him down trying to steal and Shurtleff and the Bryant defense did the rest.
In the top of the fourth, Garrett Misenheimer laced a one-out single to center and Allen drew a walk. Tatum chased both of them home with a triple to make it 3-0.
Hurt opened the fourth with a base hit to left then raced home on Patterson’s first three-bagger. Lee singled him in then stole second and third as Breeding was drawing a walk. Jason Hastings drew a free pass to load the bases then Misenheimer picked up an RBI with a groundout, making it 7-0.
Patterson put the finishing touches on the win with his second triple, which drove in Hurt who had walked with one out in the top of the sixth.
Bryant 3, Batters Box Demarini (Collierville, Tenn.) 1
Patterson allowed one run on three hits over six innings, walking two and striking out eight. Brandan Warner pitched a scoreless seventh, working around a walk and a single to earn a save.
The game went to the seventh tied 1-1. Warner led off the inning with a walk. Hurt beat out an infield hit and, after both moved up on Patterson’s groundout, Lee delivered the game-winning blow, swatting a single to left to drive both home.
In the home half, Warner retired the first batter on a comebacker then issued a walk and a single. But the next batter grounded into a force at second. With runners at the corners, a bouncer to Tatum at second ended the threat and the game.
Both teams scored a run in the fourth. Breeding got the Sox’ uprising started with a sharp single to center. With one out, Allen drew a walk. Nick Kehrees then got a bunt down that went for a hit and, on the late throw to first, Breeding rounded third and beat the relay to the plate to put Bryant up 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning, a walk, a wild pitch, a punt single and a squeeze play got Batters Box its lone run.
Patterson then struck out five in a row before issuing a walk in the sixth. A sacrifice attempt resulted in a force at second. The next batter lined one off Patterson and beat out a single. The Bryant right-hander continued pitching and worked out of the jam by inducing a fly to Hastings in right and getting the third out on a bouncer to Tatum at second.
Bryant 2, Ontario Blue Jays (North Mississauga, Ont., Can.) 0
In a preview of the eventual championship game, Hastings fired a four-hit shutout over seven innings, walking one and fanning seven. He was locked in a scoreless duel until the Sox pushed across two runs in the fifth with Lee providing the big blow, an RBI triple.
The Blue Jays’ best chance to score was in the fifth when a single and a sacrifice had a runner at second. With two down, Ontario’s nine-hole hitter singled to left. But when the runner tried to score from second, Lee gunned him down with Breeding applying the tag.
In the bottom of the inning, Patterson singled with two down before Lee pounded the triple. He would score the second run on a passed ball.
Hastings eased to a 1-2-3 sixth and the Sox threatened in the home half when Hastings, who went 3 for 3, and Allen singled to put runners at the corners. Hastings was off on first contact Shurtleff hit a roller that the Jays’ pitcher fielded, throwing home in time for the first out. A doubleplay ended the threat.
In the bottom of the inning, the Canadians put two runners aboard with two down but Hastings left them standing with a final strikeout.
Bryant 7, Nashville Baseball Academy 1
Zach Jackson allowed just one run on three hits without a walk. He fanned eight and walked one in the Black Sox’ third win. He retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced and needed just 67 pitches to go the route in seven innings. Nashville had two of its hits in the first inning when the lone run scored on a groundout. The only other single came with two out in the fifth, the only interruption in Jackson’s closing run.
At the plate, Warner went 2 for 3 with an RBI and Patterson drove in a pair.
The Sox took the lead with a two-run third. Warner drew a lead-off walk and, with one out, swiped second. Patterson flew out to left and Warner tagged to go to third, setting up Lee with the two-out RBI opportunity. Lee proceeded to swap places with Warner, belting a triple to right. An error allowed him to score as Breeding reached base.
Jackson pitched around the hit batsman in the bottom of the third and the Sox went back to work at the dish in the top of the fourth. Walks to Allen, Kehrees and Tatum helped as the inning got underway. Warner singled in the first run then Hurt delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 before Patterson yanked a triple to right to chase home Tatum and Warner. Lee’s sacrifice fly made it 7-1.
The Sox threatened to score in the fifth when Kehrees and Tatum drew two-out walks. Warner singled but, on a close play, Kehrees was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Bryant 8, Rawlings Recruits (Fenton, Mo.) 0
Lee allowed just two hits in the five-inning shutout, striking out seven with two walks and two hit batsmen.
Warner, Breeding, Hastings and Aaron Orender each had two hits with Lee and Hastings knocking in a pair of runs apiece.
Lee hit a batter, walked a batter and, in between, allowed a single. But he picked off one at first and another at second before recording his first strikeout to end the frame. He retired 13 of 16 batters starting with that strikeout, working around a hit batsman in the third then a walk and a single with two down in the fourth.
The Sox staked Lee to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning. Warner singled but was forced at second on a tap back to the mound by Hurt. Patterson pulled a single to right sending Hurt to third. He then stole second and both scored when Lee belted a double to left.
Breeding bounced a single up the middle then Hastings singled to left to drive in Lee. Kehrees, running for Breeding, came home when Allen reached on an error. Orender singled to load the bases but the Recruits turned a doubleplay to end the inning.
The Sox tacked on a run in the third with the help of a couple of walks. Breeding and Hastings drew the free passes then Allen bunted them to second and third. On a ball that go away from the catcher, Devin Dupree, running for Breeding, was caught at the plate but Orender stroked a single to center to bring Hastings home.
A three-run fifth made it a walk-off run-rule win. Breeding got things going with a single and Kehrees stole second. Hastings doubled him home. A single by Allen got Hastings to third and he scored from there on Seth Tucker’s sacrifice fly. Warner ended it when he laced a drive into the left-field corner for a triple.
