FAYETTEVILLE — In 14 innings against two of the best teams they'll face during the regular season, the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team trailed in only three. Unfortunately, two of those were the last two of the second game and they wound up with a split at a jamboree hosted by the Fayetteville Lindsey & Associates Dodgers on Saturday.
Behind ace lefty Trent Daniel, the Sox handed the Bartlesville, Okla., Indians, one of the top teams in their state, 7-2 in the first game. In the second against the host team, defensive breakdowns cost the Sox in the bottom of the sixth. Fayetteville took advantage, scoring five times to break open a 2-2 game on the way to a 7-3 victory.
Sunday, the Sox (8-1) were set to play Texarkana, Texas and Bartlesville again. Bartlesville had already defeated Fayetteville and Texarkana.[more]
"We actually played good today except for that one inning," acknowledged Sox manager Craig Harrison, whose team was without a couple of starters.
In the opener, Daniel went the distance, striking out 10 with three walks. He allowed two unearned runs on six hits.
"It was a quality win for our program," Harrison stated. "Went Trent is on the mound, we play with a lot of confidence. We competed well at the plate, Trent was a bulldog on the mound, and we played good defense behind him. It was a great team effort."
A five-run fifth put the Sox, who were clinging to a 2-1 lead, in command. Austin Benning was hit by a pitch to lead it off bringing up the top of the batting order and Justin Blankenship. Harrison decided not to sacrifice but got the results without the out anyway when the first pitch was in the dirt and wild. Blankenship proceeded to blast one off the fence in deep right-center for an RBI double.
An out later, Tyler Sawyer singled up the middle to chase in Blankenship, making it 4-1. On a late throw to the plate, Sawyer took second and, with two down, scored on a double to left-center by Brady Butler.
After a pitching change, Ben Wells unloaded for a two-run jack to left to cap the uprising.
In the bottom of the inning, Daniel worked a 1-2-3 frame with a pair of strikeouts. In the sixth, we worked around a two-out single. A lead-off double in the seventh led to the Indians' second run. With two out, the Sox appeared to have the final strike but the pitch was in the dirt and the throw to first was off and the batter reached while the runner scored from third.
But Daniel got the next batter to fly to center to end it, completing a 127-pitch outing.
Bryant had taken a 1-0 lead in the opening inning. Caleb Garrett ripped a one-out triple and scored on a grounder to the right side by Sawyer.
Bartlesville tied it in the bottom of the frame on a walk to Scott Hull, a double by Jared Baughn and a passed ball. Baughn made it to third but was stranded there when Daniel struck out the next batter and got the final out on a bouncer to Jonathan Wade at third.
Daniel struck out the side in the second and the Sox regained the advantage in the top of the third. Benning walked to start the inning then Blankenship hit a grounder to the right side that appeared to be headed for right only to hit Benning for an out. With Blankenship on first, Garrett drew a walk and Sawyer hit one in the hole at first for a hit that drew a bad throw from the first baseman to the pitcher trying to get to first. Blankenship scored.
In the home half, Bartlesville's Andrew Bullinger drew a one-out walk and stole second. Hull followed with a single up the middle that Garrett charged and fielded. Bullinger rounded third but Garrett gunned him down at the plate for the second out of the inning. Baughn fanned to end the inning.
In the nightcap, Fayetteville had the big sixth inning. With the game tied 2-2, Christian Allen led off the sixth with a single against Wells, the Bryant starter. After failing to get down a sacrifice bunt, Jake Barton singled to left. The next batter bunted in the air but it got over the head of Butler, the first baseman who was charging on the play. As the runner at first who had to hold on the play got a late start for second, Butler recovered the ball and tried to get the out at first. His flip to Benning, the second baseman, covering first on the play was too late, however, at the bases were loaded with no one out. With the infield in, a pair of hits followed.
Blankenship came on in relief and surrendered another hit before getting the final out.
Trailing 7-2, the Sox didn't go quietly in the top of the seventh. Blankenship cracked a double and scored on a single by Sawyer but that's all they could muster.
"This was a good Legion game until we had a breakdown in the sixth on that bunt play," Harrison commented. "Wells threw well but wore down in the later innings. Our lack of depth with people out hurt us. He had to play first in the first game then turn around and throw the second one. That's no excuse though. Fayetteville has a good hitting team.
"We didn't battle at the plate the way we did in game one," he added. "In the fourth and sixth, we didn't have very good at bats and basically gave away those innings."
The Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Daniel doubled with one out, Wade walked and B.J. Ellis sliced a double to right. With runners at second and third, a pitch got past the Fayetteville catcher but ricocheted off the concrete backstop back to him as Wade tried to sprint home. The catcher recovered the ball and made the tag.
"Nothing we could do there," Harrison noted. "A really bad break."
Fayetteville tied it in the bottom of the third. Zerod Gray led off with a single to left then Taylor Shaddy blooped a hit to left. Adam Baker's single to center drove in the run. But Wells kept it deadlocked by retiring clean-up hitter Blake Roberts on a dribbler in front of the plate. Ellis bounced out from behind the plate to field the ball, looked the lead runner back then fired to first for the out. Allen then bounced to Benning at second to end the inning.
The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the home fourth when Barton doubled, took third on a grounder to the right side and scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Black Sox tied it in the top of the fifth. Garrett cracked a hit to right that glanced off the right fielder's glove for a double. Sawyer followed with a two-bagger into the corner in right to make it 2-2.
"In the bottom of the fifth, Wells looked great with their top of the order up and I thought we were ready to take the game," Harrison related. But, in the top of the sixth, the Fayetteville pitcher struck out the side to set up his team's decisive rally.
