Senior Sox play for tournament title today after sweeping pool
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FORT SMITH — The Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team is set to play for the championship of the Katzer Tournament this afternoon after going unbeaten in pool play. The Sox opened on Friday with a 2-1 win over the Three Rivers Bandits of Waggoner, Okla. On Saturday, they edged the Arkansas Titans 4-3 then drilled the River Valley Tropics, 10-0.
Bryant is now 7-3 going into the title game.
Black Sox 10, Tropics 0
Christian Harp tossed a two-hit shutout over five innings, walking two and striking out four. Seth Tucker, Jake East and Grayson Prince each had two hits as the Sox pounded out 13 as a team.
Tucker singled to start the game. East doubled him home to put the first run on the board. With one out, Dylan Hurt singled to get East to third. Aaron Orender then executed the squeeze play to get East home.
It stayed 2-0 until the top of the third with Harp pitching around a walk and a single in the bottom of the second, finishing the inning with a strikeout.
In the third, Logan Allen lined a single to left, Hurt walked and Orender beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Jake Wright walked to force in a run then Coby Greiner drew a free pass to get Hurt in. With one out, Orender scored on a passed ball and Prince lined a single off the Tropics’ pitcher that wound up driving in two.
Singles by Tucker and East loaded the bases again. Allen made it 8-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Harp set down the Tropics in order in the bottom of the third as part of retiring eight in a row.
In Bryant’s fourth, Wright drew a one-out walk, stole second and third before scoring on a single by Myers Buck.
The Sox put the game in run-rule territory with a final tally in the top of the fifth. Logan Chambers cracked a pinch-hit single and so did Scott Schmidt. With one out, Boston Heil had a pinch-hit single but Schmidt was tagged out rounding second too far.
A walk to Orender then a passed ball allowed Chambers to score, making it 10-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, a walk and a single with one down gave the Tropics hope of extending the game but Harp got the second out on strikes. The final out came when Wright threw out the lead runner as he tried to steal third.
Black Sox 4, Arkansas Titans 3
Allen, Brandon Hoover, Schmidt and Orender each had two hits to back the pitching of Tucker who blanked the Titans as the Sox built a 3-0 lead over the first three innings. The Titans got on the board with a run in the fourth but the Sox got that back in the top of the sixth.
It was 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. A lead-off double and a hit batsman gave the Titans hope of a comeback. Wright relieved for the Sox and, after a successful double steal, he got the first out on strikes. A wild pitch produced a run, cutting the lead to one. But Wright fanned the batter for the second out. A pair of walks loaded the bases before Wright recorded his third strikeout of the inning to end the game in dramatic fashion.
The Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Alex Shurtleff walked and Schmidt blooped a single to center. Orender ripped a single up the middle to plate Shurtleff. With runners on first and second, Harp sacrificed and each moved up a base. Tucker was hit by a pitch to load the bases and, with two down, Allen was plunked forcing in the second tally.
Tucker, who had set down the Titans in order in the first, struck out the first batter in the second. A single followed but the Sox’ right-hander induced a pop up he caught himself then ended the inning with a strikeout.
Hoover opened the top of the third with a single. He took second on Shurtleff’s swinging bunt. With two out, Orender slapped a single to right to bring Hoover home.
Tucker fanned two as he worked a 1-2-3 third. In the fourth, however, a single and a walk set up the Titans’ first run. A strikeout delayed that for a moment but a single and a sacrifice fly got the run in. But Tucker induced a grounder to Schmidt at second to end the uprising.
It stayed 3-1 until the top of the sixth. With one out, Tucker was struck by a pitch and East beat out and infield hit. Allen picked up the RBI with a single to get in what proved to be the difference-maker.
The Titans used a double and a single to make it 4-2 with one out in the bottom of the sixth. A bloop single put two aboard then an infield hit loaded the sacks. But Tucker got the next batter to pop out to Schmidt then ended it by inducing a comebacker.
The Sox were held to a walk to Schmidt in the top of the seventh, setting up the dramatic finish.
Black Sox 2, Three Rivers Bandits 1
No details of this game were available as of this posting.
