A six-run uprising in the bottom of the fourth lifted State Farm to a 7-4 win over Eat My Catfish in[more] the Bryant Athletic Association’s 11-12 year old Cal Ripken Blue League Thursday night at Bishop Park.
State Farm, bouncing back from a 3-0 loss earlier in the evening trailed 4-1 when the home fourth began. Eat My Catfish were within a strike of ending the game when a walk — the second on the inning — kept them alive. Jacob Shepard, the lead runner, and Chandler Taylor both scored when Josh Prather came through with a two-run shot to left-center for a double.
Hunter Mullins tied the game with an RBI single and, after Jacob Coppock drew an intentional walk to set up a force at three bases, Coby Greiner smacked a two-run double to put State Farm ahead 6-4. And when Will McEntire reached on an error, Greiner scored to cap the inning off.
Eat My Catfish, which had scored in each of the first three frames, got a runner aboard in the home fourth when Tyler Jordan yanked a one-out single to left. Bryce Wilkerson beat out an infield hit to get Jordan in scoring position but a grounder to Wilkerson at short produced a game-ending doubleplay behind reliever Austin Trimble.
Both teams scored a run in the first. In the top half, a walk to Coppock, a pair of stolen bases and a squeeze bunt by Greiner produced the run. McEntire and Jadyen Foster followed with consecutive singles but were stranded as Eat My Catfish starter Jessy Windemaker got out of the inning with his second strikeout of the frame.
In the bottom of the inning, a bunt single by Ryan Lessenberry and his stolen base set the table. Logan Grant walked and, with two down, Sawyer Holt drove in the run with a base hit to left. Greiner forced Eat My Catfish to strand two runners when he picked up his second strikeout of the inning.
In the second, Windemaker issued walks to Wilkerson, Taylor and Mullins but got out of the jam by inducing a two-out grounder to second.
In turn, Eat My Catfish took the lead when Brayden Lester singled, stole his way to third and scored on a squeeze bunt by Tyler Jordan.
Eat My Catfish seemed to be on the way to a victory when they set down State Farm in order in the top of the third and added two runs to the lead in the home half. Walks to Cade Dupree and Grant were followed by a double steal. With two down, Holt chased both home with a two-strike base hit.
