On the heels of winning the second leg of the Everett Buick GMC Triple Crown Wally Hall Tournament, a team of 9-year-olds from Bryant coached by Brad Chism, Jeff Jackson and Brad Benson, captured the third leg of the series on Sunday night with a 7-6 win in the 10-and-under finals over a team called the Warriors.
Earlier in the day, the Bryant team knocked off the Trojans, 15-1, and a team from Harmony Grove, 6-3.
Reportedly, the same team of Bryant players, has won the tournament four years in a row, first at 6-year-olds.
The team includes John Thomas Allen, Brayden Beenken, Gavyn Benson, Carter Brown, Cooper Chism, Avery Heidelberg, Landon Jackson, E.J. Keith, Braxton Speer, Aiden Stout and Hudson Thomason.
Bryant 7, Warriors 6
In the dramatic title game, the Bryant team had a 5-1 lead after two innings disappear as the Warriors rallied for three runs in the top of the third then tied it with a tally in the top of the fifth.
In the sixth and final frame, the Warriors took a 6-5 lead only to have Bryant rally for two in the home half to win it.
After five innings, the teams played under the international tiebreaker rule in which each inning opens with a runner placed at second base. The Warriors used an error to get the go-ahead run home.
The decisive uprising in the bottom of the inning began with Beenken at second. Allen singled him in to knot it back up. On the late throw to the plate, Allen sprinted all the way to third. From there, he scored the game-winner on a clutch single to right by Thomason.
The Warriors opened the game with a run in the top of the first but the Future Hornets tied it in the bottom of the inning when Allen walked, stole second and scored on a single by Benson.
After a scoreless top of the second, Bryant scored four times to mount their early lead. Stout walked to start the uprising. Jackson took one for the team and, with one out, they worked a double steal. Brown reached on catcher’s interference and Heidelberg walked to force in the tie-breaker.
After a pitching change, Jackson scored on a passed ball and Brown came in on a wild pitch. With two down, a balk allowed Heidelberg to score.
The Warriors took advantage of an error, three singles and a walk to cut the margin to 5-4 in the top of the third. The tying run in the top of the fifth was a result of a walk with one out, steals of second and third and an error on the attempt at third.
Brown earned the win in relief of Keith, allowing one hit and one unearned run over the final three innings.
Bryant 6, Harmony Grove 3
In the semifinal win over Harmony Grove, Bryant had just two hits but benefited from eight walks and an error.
Both teams scored twice in the first. Allen scored Bryant’s run in the bottom of the inning after he led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch as Thomason was working a free pass. Another walk to Benson loaded the bases. Speer came through with a sacrifice fly. Thomason stole third and scored on an error when the throw from the catcher got by the third baseman.
After Speer pitched a scoreless second, Keith walked to start the second. He stole second, took third on a passed ball and, after Brown walked, scored on Heidelberg’s groundout to make it 3-2.
In the bottom of the third, Thomason lined a one-out single to right, stole his way to third and, after Benson walked, scored on Speer’s hit. Benson scored on the front end of a double steal and it was 5-2.
Stout and Jackson each drew a walk and Speer came in to score on a wild pitch.
The Warriors tacked on a run in the top of the fourth but that was all they could muster.
Bryant 15, Trojans 1
With three hits, Bryant took advantage of seven walks, a hit batsman and three errors to win easily. Keith drove in two runs with his single. Jackson had a hit and an RBI while Benson accounted for the third hit.
Jackson picked up the win on the mound with three innings of one-hit pitching. He allowed five walks and fanned five.
A nine-run first put Bryant on its way to victory. Six more in the second made it a run-rule lead.
