Sport Shop Sox open Legion season with 9-1 win
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting 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).
By Rob Patrick
JESSIEVILLE — Blake Patterson, C.J. Phillips and Justin Emmerling combined on a five-inning one-hitter and the Sport Shop Black Sox of Bryant scored six times in the top of the fifth to dispense with Hot Springs Village Sally’s Body Shop in Junior (17-and-under) American Legion action Tuesday night, 9-1.
It was the season-opener for both teams.
Seven different Black Sox players had hits as they took advantage of seven walks, two hit batsmen and four errors. Dakota Besancon drove in three runs including the first two of the game on a clutch two-out, two-strike single.
“We looked good,” commented Sport Shop manager Tyler Pickett. “We started off a little slow then figured it out at the plate and started scoring runs. We played solid defense.
“The pitchers looked good,” he added. “We’ve still got a little work to do. We got a little wild at times but we had guys throw strikes and get outs. That’s what we’re looking for. It was a good start to the season.”
Patterson worked the first two innings on the mound and, though he didn’t allow a hit, Hot Springs Village managed a run on a pair of errors in the second. Phillips gave up the lone hit, a two-out single to Tyler Robertson in the third but worked out of a jam and retired the side in order in the fourth. Emmerling pitched around a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth to close out the victory.
For Bryant, Dalton Holt and Patterson opened the game with singles that, with a wild pitch in between, put runners at second and third. Robertson, the Hot Springs Village starter, fanned the next two, however, and had Besancon down, 1-2, before the two-run single to center.
The Sox turned a doubleplay to end the bottom of the first after Patterson had issued a one-out walk.
Brittain Crouch opened the Sport Shop second with a single and a stolen base. Andrew Kincaid followed with a one-hopper back to the mound. Crouch was caught in a pickle but an errant throw allowed him to reach third as Kincaid held at first. Though Kincaid was thrown out trying to steal second, Crouch was able to score when Collins Fredriksson’s grounder to second was booted.
The Sox had their only defensive miscues in the second. The first allowed Zach Walters to reach base. He advanced to second on a wild pitch then to third on a passed ball as Patterson got Austin Sutterfield to tap back to the mound then Cole Jones on a pop to Fredricksson at second. But another error allowed Dylan Anderson to reach base as Walters scored.
Patterson ended it there, with emphasis, retiring Tyce Thornhill on a called third strike.
Robertson settled in and retired the Sox in order in the third then worked around a two-out single by Kincaid in the fourth.
Phillips issued a walk to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the third. He fanned Colby Spoon but got Carson Chandler to ground to Kincaid at first. He made a nice play to get the force at second. Robertson followed with the lone hit, a clean single through the hole on the left side but Phillips got Walters to bounce to Weston Jones at third for an inning-ending force.
Bryant’s game-breaking fifth inning got going when Holt was hit by a pitch with one out. He advanced on a wild pitch then moved to third when Drew Tipton reached on an error. Tipton swiped a base then Hunter Oglesby walked to load the bases for Jones who shot a single to left to drive in two.
Besancon picked up his third RBI when his grounder to short drew an errant throw to first. Oglesby would’ve scored even if the out had been recorded but the error also allowed Jones, who had taken second on the late throw to the plate after his single, to score as well.
After a wild pitch allowed Besancon to take second, Jimbo Seale singled up the middle. Another wild pitch allowed Besancon to score, making it 8-1. Walks to Kincaid and Braylon Mays loaded the bags and, with two out, Holt was plunked again forcing in the run that made it a eight-after-five run rule game.
Emmerling fanned the first batter he faced in the bottom of the inning. Taylor Anderson bounced out to short and, after Colton Shelby walked, Jake Streen hit one back to the pitcher for the final out.
Sport Shop will play in the 2012 Benton American Legion Memorial Day Wooden Bat Tournament this weekend at Bauxite High School, opening on Friday at 6 p.m., against Little Rock Express. The Sox continued pool play on Saturday at 9:30 p.m., against North Little Rock and on Sunday at 6 against Pine Bluff.
BRYANT SPORT SHOP 9, HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE SALLY’S BODY SHOP 1
Black Sox ab r h bi Hot Springs Village ab r h bi
Holt, lf-rf 2 2 1 1 Spoon, cf 2 0 0 0
Patterson, p-lf 2 1 1 0 Shelby, ph 0 0 0 0
Tipton, 2b 2 1 0 0 Chandler, c 1 0 0 0
Oglesby, cf 2 1 0 0 Streen, ph 1 0 0 0
W.Jones, 3b 3 1 1 2 Robertson, p 2 0 1 0
Besancon, ss 3 1 1 3 Gunnoe, p-1b 0 0 0 0
Crouch, c 2 1 1 0 Walters, 3b 2 0 0 0
Seale, c 1 1 1 0 Sutterfield, rf 2 0 0 0
Kincaid, 1b 2 0 1 0 C.Jones, ss-p 2 0 0 0
Fredriksson, 2b 2 0 0 1 D.Anderson, lf 2 0 0 0
Mays, rf 0 0 0 0 Thornhill, 1b 1 0 0 0
Davis, rf 1 0 0 0 McNeely, ss 1 0 0 0
Phillips, p 0 0 0 0 Murphy, 2b 0 0 0 0
Breeding, ph 2 0 0 0 T.Anderson, ph 1 0 0 0
Emmerling, p0000
Totals24977Totals17010
BRYANT SHORT SHOP 210 06 — 9
Hot Springs Village 010 00 — 1
E—Murphy 3, Fredriksson, W.Jones, McNeely. DP—Bryant 1. LOB—Bryant 5, Hot Springs Village 4. SB—Crouch, Tipton.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Bryant
Patterson 2 1 0 0 1 0
Phillips (W) 2 0 0 1 1 2
Emmerling 1 0 0 0 1 0
Hot Springs Village
Robertson (L) 4.1 6 3 5 1 6
Gunnoe 0 3 0 2 1 0
C.Jones 0.2 0 0 0 1 0
Gunnoe pitched to four batters in the fifth.
HBP—Holt 2 (by Robertson, by C.Jones). WP—Patterson, Robertson 3, Gunnoe 2. PB—Crouch.
