Sox set new season mark with win in Regional debut
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).
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — With their 43rd win of the season, the 2014 Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team established a new high-water mark in the impressive history of the program when they opened the MidSouth Regional Tournament with a 9-1 win over the Louisiana champions, New Orleans Retif Oil on Thursday evening.
Now 43-4, the Sox snapped a tie for the most wins in a season for a Bryant Legion team set in 2001.
It was the 17th win in a row for the Black Sox who advance to take on the annual powerhouse Oklahoma Outlaws today at 4:30 p.m., in Vince DeSalvo Stadium of Burns Park.
Oklahoma opened the tournament on Thursday morning with a 10-3 win over Kansas champion, Pittsburg Post 64, scoring five times in the top of the eighth to break open a close contest.
On the other side of the bracket, Mississippi champs, the Tupelo 49ers edged Missouri champion, Jefferson City Post 5, 2-1. In the nightcap, Columbia Post 19, the Tennessee champion, downed the host North Little Rock Colts, 9-0.
Bryant cracked 13 hits and scored runs in six of the nine innings to back the pitching of Nate Rutherford and Devin Dupree. In 7 2/3 innings, Rutherford allowed one run on four hits — two of those to the last pair of batters he faced. Dupree relieved and set down the last four batters of the game.
The offense was paced by a quartet of players with two hits each. Korey Thompson went 2 for 2 with a pair of sacrifice bunts. Hayden Lessenberry had two hits and drove in a pair as did Trevor Ezell. Brandan Warner also contributed a couple of knocks.
Rutherford eased through the first three innings, allowing just one base-runner on a two-out walk in the first. A nice play up the middle by Ezell at short helped the cause.
The Sox, often a big first-inning team, managed to get the game’s first run home in the second. Lessenberry walked, Blake Patterson singled and Warner walked to load the sacks. After just missing keeping a liner down the right-field line in fair territory, Dalton Holt bounced into a doubleplay that allowed Lessenberry to score.
In the third, Thompson drilled a double to left-center. A walk to Ezell was followed up by Drew Tipton’s sacrifice. Chase Tucker followed with a bouncer inside the line that Louisiana third sacker Nick Ray backhanded as Thompson got back to the third-base bag. But when Ray unleashed his throw it was not only late but wild. Both Thompson and Ezell scored as Tucker hustled to second. Two pitches later, Lessenberry singled him around to make it 4-0.
The Sox added on in the top of the fourth. With two down, Justin Emmerling drew a walk and Thompson beat out a bunt single. Ezell chased both home with a blast off the fence in center that he turned into a triple.
With a 6-0 lead, Rutherford struggled with his command in the home fourth, walking a pair of batters around a single to right by Dan Edmund. It was the first New Orleans hit of the game.
The run scored when Scott Crabtree hit a slow roller to the right side that Thompson charged in from second to field. His toss to Ezell got a force at second but Alex Galy, who had led off with a pass, crossed the plate with Retif’s lone run.
Moments later, Rutherford picked off Crabtree as he tried to get a big lead at first. Brandon Briuglio flew to Tucker in center to end the threat, stranding a runner at third.
While Rutherford was retiring the side in order in the fifth and sixth, Bryant picked up a run in the sixth when Warner beat out a bunt hit, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Dalton Holt’s single to left.
In the seventh, Tucker reached on an error and scored all the way from first on a long double by Lessenberry.
Louisiana broke through with a threat in the bottom of the seventh. Trent Forshag reached on an error the Crabtree single. With one out, Harrison Daste was hit by a pitch to load the bases but Ben Hess hit a hard grounder that ticked off Rutherford’s glove to Thompson near the second base bag. He stepped on and fired to first for a rally-killing doubleplay.
In the eighth, Evan Lee, getting his first at bat since June 19 when he was sidelined with a broken tailbone, shot a single to left. C.J. Phillips came on to run for him and Thompson sacrificed. With two down, Tipton yanked a double inside the line past third, chasing Phillips home and making it 9-1.
Approaching 100 pitches, Rutherford retired the first two in the home eighth but back-to-back singles by Galy and Edmunds completed the big right-hander’s work for the day. Dupree relieved and promptly struck out Forshag, the clean-up hitter, to end the inning. He would need just five pitches to ninth to finish up the win.
BRYANT 9, NEW ORLEANS 1
Black Sox ab r h bi Retif Oil ab r h bi
Ezell, ss 4 1 2 2 Ray, 3b 4 0 0 0
Tipton, lf 4 0 1 1 Galy, ss 3 1 1 0
Tucker, cf 4 2 1 0 Edmund, 1b 3 0 2 0
Lessenberry, c 4 1 2 2 Forshag, c 3 0 0 0
Patterson, 1b 5 0 1 0 Crabtree, dh 4 0 1 1
Warner, 3b 4 1 2 0 Briuglio, 2b 4 0 0 0
Holt, rf 5 0 1 1 Daste, cf 3 0 0 0
Emmerling, dh 2 1 0 0 Hess, rf 3 0 0 0
Lee, ph 1 0 1 0 Cedro, lf 2 0 0 0
Phillips, pr 0 1 0 0 Licciardo, lf 1 0 0 0
Thompson, 2b 2 2 2 0 Burk, p 0 0 0 0
Rutherford, p 0 0 0 0 Hornung, p 0 0 0 0
Dupree, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 35 9 13 6 Totals 30 1 4 1
Bryant 013 201 110 — 9
New Orleans 000 100 000 — 1
E—Ray 2, Ezell. DP—Bryant 1, New Orleans 2. LOB—Bryant 9, New Orleans 6. 2B—Thompson, Lessenberry, Tipton. 3B—Ezell. S—Thompson 2, Tipton.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Bryant
Rutherford (W) 6.2 1 1 4 3 2
Dupree 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
New Orleans
Burk (L) 3 4 2 5 2 2
Hornung 6 5 3 8 2 4
HBP—Daste (by Rutherford). WP—Rutherford, Hornung 2.
