Shurtleff’s 18-K no-hitter mutes controversy, leads Everett Sox to State title
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 by Kevin Nagle
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — It’s hard to imagine that having to forfeit a game — especially a game that would’ve secured a State championship had it stood — could turn out so well.
Jordan Gentry takes a throw at third as Sheridan’s David Vilches slides in safely. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Had the Bryant Everett Black Sox’ 10-5 win over the Sheridan Yellowjackets stood Wednesday evening, right-hander Alex Shurtleff wouldn’t have had the opportunity to pitch in the winner-take-all final that was the result of the Sox having to forfeit.
And that would’ve kinda been a shame.
Shurtleff, featuring a devastating late-breaking slider, wound up firing a no-hitter and striking out 18 batters (out of 21 outs in the seven-inning game) as the Sox (32-7) won again, 2-0, over the Yellowjackets to capture the Junior American Legion State Tournament championship for the second year in a row.
“My goodness,” declared Sox manager Tyler Brown. “I’ve never seen anything like it. That was the best outing I’ve ever seen out of a young man. Eighteen strikeouts? I’ll remember that outing for the rest of my life. I honestly will. I will tell my kids about that game and about Alex Shurtleff striking out 18 kids. That’s unbelievable.
“Nobody squared him up,” he continued. “We didn’t have to make plays in the field. That was a gutsy, gutsy performance. I mean, he threw Sunday and rested Monday and Tuesday then came back and threw a seven-inning shutout with 18 strikeouts. You can’t ask any more out of a kid. The only word that can describe it is unbelievable.”
Of course, before Shurtleff’s gem, there was plenty of consternation for the Sox, their coaches and fans. Here’s what happened:
The teams were tied 5-5 after three innings of the first game. Brown turned to right-hander Zach “Panda” Jackson, a 16-year-old right-hander who was one of the Bryant Hornets’ two conference starters during their State championship run this spring, and has played a key role in the Senior Legion Black Sox’ 34-4 season (so far). Jackson had pitched and won two games for the Everett Sox along the way, as well.
As soon as he threw a pitch, Sheridan coach Mike Moore, who also is the head coach for the high school, began to inquire about lodging a protest, citing a Legion rule regarding dual participation.
It reads:
“Dual participation shall in no way interfere with a player’s responsibility to his American Legion Baseball team. Once tournament play has begun (district tournament up and through the American Legion World Series), the department baseball chairman cannot grant permission to participate in non-legion sanctioned baseball events, baseball tournaments, exhibition games, showcases or combines. The American Legion believes team loyalty is a key ingredient for any team sport. Any American Legion Baseball player missing any portion of an American Legion tournament because he participated in another non-sanctioned baseball event such as an exhibition game, tournament, showcase, or combine shall be ineligible for post-season tournament play.”
Jackson had participated, along with 79 other high school underclassmen, in the 11th annual XtraInnings Classic, an invitation-only showcase in Jonesboro. This year, the Classic was held July 12-13. Unfortunately, unlike other summers, those were the very same days that the Junior Legion post-season began. For Bryant (and Sheridan), that was the 16-team Zone 4 tournament in Sheridan. Because Jackson was in Jonesboro for the XI Classic, he was ruled ineligible for the post-season for the Sox.
Bryant’s first-game starting pitcher Dylan Hurt fields a bunt. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Now, initially, it was believed that he would also be ineligible for play with the Senior Sox, meaning his baseball season would be over. And there was, at first, some doubt about whether or not the other four Hornets (and Senior Sox) players who played in the Classic would be eligible to continue. That was a stunner for Senior Sox’ manager Darren Hurt as well as Jackson and his parents. (Bryant hosts the Senior Zone tournament this weekend and the Senior State tournament the weekend after that.)
But a call placed to the National office of American Legion baseball by State commissioner Jeral Howard and Zone 4 commissioner Russell Goodwin, returned a ruling that the error only applied to Jackson’s play in Junior Legion post-season. And not at all for the other Sox players since the XI event didn’t occur during the Senior Legion post-season.
While this all was being hashed out, Jackson and the Sox continued to play. He shut down the Jackets over four innings and Bryant scored five times in the last three at-bats to build the 10-5 lead.
With two out in the top of the seventh, Brown, having learned about the decision, went to the mound and told his pitcher and the infielders. In turn, the infielders relayed the news to the outfielders.
Jackson took a moment before returning to the pitching rubber. He issued a walk to Sheridan’s Dustin Reid but then closed out the win (that wasn’t) with his sixth strikeout in his four-innings stint.
Not knowing what was going on, fans and on-lookers were a bit bewildered by the lack of a celebration. After the team met down the right field line, assistant coach Ozzie Hurt came to the foot of the bleachers on the Bryant side and called the parents together to explain as much as he knew at that moment. Later, Darren Hurt met with them in the stands to explain further, urging the fans to blame him and not take out their frustrations on the officials, the umpires nor the Sheridan players, coaches or fans.
“Hopefully,” he concluded, “the kids will win this next one and bail me out.”
Which they did in stunning fashion.
“I’ve never been through something like that in my life,” Brown commented later. “I was clueless on the rule. I would never even — I went through the rulebook. I’ve read the rules on how the game’s played. I never thought I’d have eligibility problems. Neither did Darren. It’s a dumb rule, bottom line. But, whatever — it is what it is.
“Like I’ve said throughout this tournament, we do a great job of competing and battling,” he continued. “And that’s all that was, us going out there and battling and competing every pitch. And not letting something like that get in their heads and not letting it get them down. If anything, it fueled them for that next game.”
Shurtleff, in particular. He struck out six in a row in one stretch and, later, eight straight. Over the final four innings, 11 of the 12 outs came on strikes, mostly swinging. He finished the game with his 90th pitch.
Alex Shurtleff struck out 18 while pitching a no-hitter in the championship game. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
That incredible outing, coupled with the first-game controversy, overshadowed a phenomenal day at the plate for Bryant’s Garrett Misenheimer who was 6 for 6 in the two games with two walks and three runs batted in. That made him 11 of 16 for the tournament, a scorching .688 batting average.
The Sox gave their hurler the only run he would need in the second inning when Jordan Gentry walked, was bunted to second by Aaron Orender then raced to third when Sheridan first baseman Isiah Quintanilla tried to throw in behind Gentry to try to pick him off rounding the bag. The throw went into left field.
Cameron Coleman followed with a long drive to right that wound up just short of his second home run of the tourney. Sheridan’s Caleb Clay made a tremendous play on the ball, which served nonetheless as a sacrifice fly.
Shurtleff had hit two batters in the top of the first. He struck out two. Sheridan’s Nick Whitley put the ball in play midway through the innings, hitting a bouncer to Gentry at third. Despite a wide throw, Misenheimer did a good job of shifting to keep a foot on the bag as he made the catch at first for the out.
Shurtleff struck out the side in the second and worked around a lead-off walk to Renner Smith in the third, fanning two more before Whitley fouled out to Misenheimer. He hit Evan Thompson with a pitch for the second time as the fourth inning began but the right-hander fanned the next eight straight as he retired the last 12 batters of the game. Only Thompson put the ball in play during that stretch, rolling out to Connor Tatum at second to end the top of the sixth.
In the meantime, the Sox had runners on base in every inning. Sheridan starter Lathan Wylie worked around a walk to Tatum and a single by Misenheimer in the first. After the Sox picked up the unearned run in the second, Logan Allen led off the third with a single. Tatum sacrificed him to second. With first base open, Sheridan walked Misenheimer intentionally and they wound up getting out of the inning with the score still 1-0.
Wylie walked the first two, Gentry and Orender, in the fourth and gave way to Whitley he retired the next three. In the fifth, however, Tatum cracked a shot that went over the bag at third and into the left-field corner. He legged out a triple.
That brought up Misenheimer again and this time they pitched to him. And they regretted it as he smacked an RBI single to right to make it 2-0.
Whitley walked Coleman and gave up an infield hit to Jake East in the sixth but, again, escaped further damage when Wylie, at third, caught Tatum’s line drive for the final out.
“We hit the ball hard all night,” Brown asserted. “We just hit it right at them.”
With the no-hitter on the line, Shurtleff ended the game by striking out the side in the top of the seventh and his team dog-piled on top of him to start the delayed celebration.
“It feels good,” Brown stated, when asked about the back-to-back titles. “At the beginning of the year, the first meeting, I told them the goal was to win another State championship. I told them that last year was the first time that we won a State championship for the Junior program. And I told them the goal was to be the first team to win back-to-back Junior State championships. And we did.
“We went 5 for 5 in tournaments,” he noted. “It was a heck of a year. I’m very proud, very honored to coach those guys, go through a whole summer with them and to be a part of a team like that. They’re very gutsy kids, guys that are going to go out there and give it their all.”
The same two teams that played in that game and battled for seven innings locked at 1-1 in the winners’ bracket final on Tuesday, bashed each other early in the opening game.
Bryant took the initial lead with a run in the first on a walk to Allen, a sacrifice by Tatum and a double by Misenheimer.
Sheridan took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second with Zach Glidden coming through with a two-run single. The Jackets made a bid to get more when, with runners at first and second, David Vilches laced a sinking liner to right that Coleman charged in and snared. He was able to double off the runner at second to end the inning.
Bryant took back the advantage with a four-run home second. Orender and East singled then Allen and Tatum drove in runs with base hits. Misenheimer’s second hit loaded the bases for Dylan Hurt who delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Hunter Oglesby’s single drove in Tatum.
Back came Sheridan in the top of the third. Wylie was hit by a pitch, stole second and took third on a sacrifice. Thompson and Brady Bibb socked doubles and Quintanilla singled in a run to make it 5-5.
Bryant was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the home third and in the top of the fourth, enter Panda. Wylie’s two-out single and a walk to Whitley went for naught when Jackson struck out Thompson. He would retire the side in order in the fifth, and work around a one-out walk in the sixth.
Meanwhile, the Sox took the lead for good in the fourth. Tatum and Misenheimer each singled and Hurt sacrificed them to second and third for Oglesby who ripped a double to left-center. Tatum scored and Misenheimer tried to. Sheridan put together a solid relay and it appeared that Misenheimer was out at the plate but the ball rolled free in front of the plate at Thompson could not hold on as he made the tag.
Oglesby, who hustled to third on the play, sprinted home on Gentry’s swinging bunt toward first, making it 8-5.
Misenheimer would single in Allen in the fifth. In the sixth, Oglesby reached on an error, Gentry beat out a bunt single setting up a double steal and Coleman’s RBI grounder to first, setting the final score (that wasn’t).
In the top of the seventh, Whitley reached on an error but Jackson induced a grounder to Tatum at second. He tagged Whitley and fired to first in time to retire Thompson. With the count 2-1 on Reid, Brown came to the mound with the disappointing news — news that turned into something splendid.
In the end, the Sox won it twice and it was twice as nice.
BRYANT EVERETT 2, SHERIDAN 0
Yellowjackets ab r h bi Black Sox ab r h bi
Vilches, p-3b 3 0 0 0 Allen, cf 4 0 1 0
Wylie, 3b-ss 2 0 0 0 Tatum, 2b 2 1 1 0
Whitley, ss-p 3 0 0 0 Misenheimer, 1b 2 0 2 1
Thompson, c 1 0 0 0 Hurt, c 3 0 0 0
Reid, dh 3 0 0 0 Kelly, cr 0 0 0 0
Bibb, cf 3 0 0 0 Oglesby, lf 3 0 0 0
Quintanilla, 1b 3 0 0 0 Gentry, 3b 1 1 0 0
Glidden, lf 2 0 0 0 Orender, dh 1 0 0 0
Smith, 2b 1 0 0 0 Coleman, rf 1 0 0 1
Clay, rf 0 0 0 0 East, ss 3 0 1 0
Shurtleff, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 21 0 0 0 Totals 20 2 5 2
Sheridan 000 000 0 — 0
Bryant 010 010 x — 2
E—none. LOB—Sheridan 4, Bryant 9. 3B—Tatum. SB—Kelly. S—Orender, Tatum. SF—Coleman.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Sheridan
Vilches (L) 3 1 0 2 5 1
Whitley 3 1 1 3 1 1
Bryant
Shurtleff (W) 7 0 0 0 1 18
HBP—Wylie, Thompson 2 (by Shurtleff). WP—Whitley.
