At first, the Crossett Eagles were going to have to forfeit to the Bryant Black Sox. The two teams were set for an elimination contest at the Senior American Legion Tournament at Bryant High School Field, but Crossett wound up with just eight players. One they were counting on was at home sick, the other was kept at home by his parents apparently.
Bryant manager Darren Hurt was prepared to play an intrasquad game just to help keep his team sharp as it continued to wend its way through the losers’ bracket of the tourney. But the State commissioner okayed Crossett’s proposal to play with just eight players and whenever the ninth spot in the batting order came up, it would be an out.
The Eagles players with two outfielders originally deployed to right-center and left-center. They tried to shift according to which Sox batter was at the plate, but they wound up doing a lot of chasing.
With Cade Drennan clubbing his second homer in as many days then Noah Davis belting a grand slam. Conner Martin and Ryan Riggs added inside-the-park homers. The Sox wound up hammering out seven extra base hits among their total of 17 in a 19-0 victory in five innings.
Crossett played gamely but, even had they had a ninth player, they probably would’ve been overmatched.
With the victory, Bryant advances to play El Dorado on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., at BHS. El Dorado eliminated Lake Hamilton on Saturday. The winner of the 5:30 game will turn around and play Cabot in an elimination contest. Cabot lost 9-7 to Fort Smith in the winners’ bracket on Saturday night.
On the mound, Hurt got some work out of a trio of pitchers. Josh Turner started. Brandon Thomisee relieved in the third then Colby Morrow threw the fifth as they combined on a three-hit shutout.
Drennan and Riggs each had three hits in the game. Davis, Logan Catton, Peyton Dillon and Brayden Lester had two knocks apiece.
Bryant took a 3-0 lead in the first. Davis led off with a triple down the right-field line. On the next pitch, Riggs singled him home. With one out, Drennan crushed the first pitch he saw for his two-run dinger.
Turner pitched around a lead-off single by Jack Rice in the bottom of the inning. The Sox turned a doubleplay to end the inning.
In the second, he worked around a lead-off hit to Toby Spurlock and a one-out walk to Brock Wright.
Bryant’s third started with a double to center by Riggs. With one out, Catton beat out infield hit. Riggs scored from third when Dillon’s grounder to short was booted. Coby Greiner delivered a run with a sacrifice fly. Aaron Morgan followed with a grounder to third that was thrown away, deep down the right-field line. Morgan circled the bases, scoring behind Jordan Knox, running for Drennan, and Dillon to make it 7-0.
Martin hit a shot to center, getting between the outfielders and rolling all the way to the wall. He sprinted around the bases and it was 8-0.
Rice reached on an error and Mason Taunton singled with one out in the third. Thomisee came in to relieve and got out of the inning unscathed.
Riggs led off the Bryant fourth with a drive into the right-field corner for an inside-the-park homer. Catton singled, stole second and scored on Dillon’s double to center. Greiner singled in Dillon and, after a pitching change, Morgan walked. Lester delivered an RBI single to make it 12-0. Ethan Andrews’ infield hit got Morgan home.
Thomisee eased through a 1-2-3 fourth and the Sox put the finishing touches on the rout with a six-run fifth. Consecutive singles by Catton, Drennan and Dillon loaded the bases for Greiner who delivered his second sacrifice fly. A run scored on a wild pitch then Lester singled again. Andrews was struck by a pitch to load the bases for Davis, who cleared them with a shot to left.
Morrow needed just four pitches to close out the game in the bottom of the fifth.
