In the 2014 Junior American Legion championship game, right-hander Alex Shurtleff came through with an 18- strikeout no hitter against the Sheridan Yellowjackets as the Bryant Black Sox captured the title.
Fast forward to Wednesday night at Bryant High School Field and the Yellowjackets AA Legion team in for a visit with the Black Sox Senior squad. Shurtleff took the mound in the first game of the twinbill and, though he wasn’t quite as dominant as a year ago — the stakes weren’t quite as high — he held the Jackets to two unearned runs on five hits in a 13-2 Bryant win in five innings.
With Bryant manager Darrent Hurt mixing and matching his line-ups in the non-league doubleheader, the Sox eased to the opening win but, in the nightcap, Sheridan’s best pitcher this summer Jesse Smith frustrated the Sox and held off a late rally as the Jackets earned a split with a 5-3 win. The game ended with the potential tying runs on base for Bryant.
Now 25-6-2 overall, the Sox have bigger fish to fry tonight when they host Zone 4 rival Benton McClendons for a pair of league games starting at 6 p.m.
In Wednesday’s opening game, Brandan Warner continued his hot hitting going 3 for 3 with a walk on the eve of his signing a letter of intent with the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Blake Patters, Garrett Misenheimer and Austin Kelly each had two hits in the game. Patterson drove in four. Kelly and Trey Breeding knocked in two each.
In the second game, Drew Tipton, the Sox’ lead-off hitter and centerfielder, returned after a long battle with a hamstring injury. He’s been sidelined since June 15. But he didn’t play the outfield or bat, he started the game on the mound. His first appearance as a pitcher since he threw one inning during the 2014 season. He surrendered three runs on three hits in two-plus innings before giving way to Dylan Hurt in the midst of Sheridan’s three-run third. Hurt finished the game and kept the Sox close. They rallied for a run in the sixths but stranded two and picked up another run in the seventh then stranded another pair.
Bryant 13, Sheridan 2
The Sox broke out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings. In the opening frame, Warner singled and, on a hit-and-run, picked up second as Hurt grounded out. Patterson’s bouncer to the right side got Warner to third for Breeding, who swatted a single up the middle to make it 1-0.
Misenheimer singled then Kelly drilled one to deep right-center for a two-run double and the 3-0 edge.
In the second, Connor Tatum walked with one out. He raced home all the way from first on Warner’s double to right-center. He took third on a late throw to the plate and, after Hurt walked, led him home when Patterson delivered a long double to left-center. Misenheimer’s RBI single with two down made it 7-0.
Shurtleff, meanwhile, worked around a one-out single in the first and a one-out knock in the second. In the third, Sheridan’s Clayton Palmer hit a slow roller toward third and beat it out for a hit, though Warner made a sparkling play on the ball. But his throw was wild allowing Palmer to reach second.
Though the Bryant hurler retired the next two, another error on a ball hit by Hunter Hicks allowed Palmer to score. With Hicks at first, Nick Whitley stroked a long double to right to make it 7-2.
Shurtleff retired the side in order in the top of the fourth then Sox blew the game up in the bottom half. Warner hustled to beat out an infield hit then, on another hit-and-run, Hurt smacked a soft liner beyond shortstop, putting runners at the corners for Patterson, who chased them both home with his second double.
On an errant relay throw, Patterson advanced to third. Breeding got him home with a sacrifice fly.
Misenheimer walked to get things revved up again. Kelly singled and, after Logan Allen bounced into a force at second, Seth Tucker smacked an RBI single to left. Allen scored when Tatum’s grounder to second was kicked and, after Warner walked to load the bases, Hurt waited out a free pass to force in the sixth run of the inning.
Shurtleff closed it out after a single by Evan Thompson and a walk to Chance Wallingsford with one out in the top of the fifth.
Sheridan 5, Bryant 3
The game opened with several Black Sox players in unusual positions, most notably Breeding, the team’s primary catcher, in right field. And, as it turned out, he robbed Sheridan batters twice with diving snags. The first came on a sinking liner in right-center to end the third-inning uprising from Sheridan, saving at least one run.
Tipton surrendered a single to open the game but, with one out, started a 1-6-3 doubleplay on a comebacker. In the second, he hit Whitley and Brady Bibb to start the inning. With one out, he got Nathan Kirkpatrick to hit a one-hopper back to the mound. Tipton caught Whitley in a rundown between third and home and Misenheimer, the Sox catcher, tagged him out.
With two down, Tipton fanned Tyler Cleveland on a pitch in the dirt. Misenheimer scrambled after the loose ball, decided it was too late to make a throw to first to get Cleveland and, instead, flipped to Tipton covering the plate. But Bibb slid in safely to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Smith pitched a 1-2-3 first and worked around an error and a walk in the second.
Sheridan’s third started with singles by Thompson and Wallingsford. Forty pitches in, Tipton came out and Hurt in. A bloop single by Hicks loaded the bases for Whitley, who singled to center to make it 2-0.
Hurt fanned Bibb and got Jace Phillips to bounce to short for a force out as Wallingsford scored. Kirkpatrick followed with an RBI single to center, making it 4-0, before Breeding robbed Cleveland of a hit to end the inning.
The Sox managed their first hit off of Smith when Breeding stroked a double into the left-field corner. Nick Kehrees sacrificed him to third but he would be stranded as Smith wriggled off the hook.
Hurt issued a walk to start the top of the fourth but induced a two-ball from Thompson to take the starch out of the Sheridan offense.
In turn, the Sox managed their first run. Patterson reached on an error but remained there as Smith retired the next two batters on flyballs. But Misenheimer came through with an RBI double, making it 4-1.
In the fifth, Whitley doubled, tagged and went to third when Breeding robbed Bibb of an extra-base hit with a sprawling catch down the right-field line. A wild pitch allowed Whitley to score, however, just before Phillips flew out to left to end the inning.
Logan Allen beat out a bunt single with one out in the home fifth. He stole second but got no further as Smith continued to pitch out of trouble.
Hurt wound up retiring the last eight batters he faced and the Sox continued to whittle. In the bottom of the sixth, Evan Lee blasted a drive off the base of the fence in distant right-center for a lead-off triple. Jason Hastings lined a single to right to make it 5-2 but Smith fanned the next two batters and, after a walk to Breeding, got the final out.
In the seventh, Allen drilled a single to center and took second when a throw back into the infield was errant. With one down, Patterson pounded an RBI double to right as the momentum appeared to begin growing.
Sheridan chose to issue an intentional walk to Lee and Hastings hit a fly to right that Palmer dropped. But he pounced on the ball quickly and got a throw in to second for a force play, which took some of the wind out of the Sox.
On his 113th pitch, Smith ended the game with a strikeout.
