TEXARKANA — The Texarkana Junior American Legion team picked up runs in the sixth inning of both of their games with the Bryant Everett Buick-GMC Black Sox Junior team on Wednesday, June 24, to eke out a sweep, 7-5 and 2-1.
In the first game, the Sox put together a four-run third to take a 4-2 lead but Texarkana countered with three in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-4 lead only to have the Sox tie it in the top of the fourth. A run in the bottom of the fourth and another in the sixth gave Texarkana the winning margin. Bryant had runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh but stranded one in the fifth and had another thrown out at the plate in the sixth.
In the nightcap, a five-inning game, Sox right-hander Kyle Sahr held Texarkana without a hit but a pair of unearned runs provided the winning margin. The score was tied 1-1 after the second and stayed that way until Texarkana picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. With one chance to forge a comeback, the Sox were retired in order in the top of the fifth.
The 15-year-old squad for Bryant is scheduled to play again on Thursday, July 2, at North Little Rock. The 17-and-under platoon is competing in a tournament in Memphis this weekend.
Between them, they’re 7-6 on the season.
Bryant’s run in game two was a result of Aaron Orender reaching on an error to start the second inning. The bad throw allowed him to take second. Scott Schmidt sacrificed him to third and he scored on Christian Harp’s groundout.
Other than that, the only base-runner for the Sox came in the fourth when Ty Medford singled with one out.
Texarkana tied it in the bottom of the second. The decisive run in the fourth came by virtue of a throwing error, a groundout and a sacrifice fly as Kyle Sahr held them without a hit.
In the first game, Texarkana used a single, a walk and a two-out triple to take a 2-0 lead in the first after hits by Brandon Hoover and Orender came to naught for Bryant in the top of the inning.
In the second, a one-out walk to Ethan Thompson started the Sox’ uprising.Matthew Sandidge and Grayson Prince each singled to bring up the top of the batting order. Seth Tucker smacked a base hit up the middle then Myers Buck was hit by a pitch. Hoover walked and Orender singled. The fifth run was denied when Buck was forced out at the plate on a grounder hit by Schmidt.
A strikeout ended the outburst with the bases still loaded.
Medford pitched around a two-out single in the bottom of the second but the Sox couldn’t muster anything in the top of the third. A single and a pair of walks put Texarkana in position to score in the bottom of the third. All three scored as Texarkana came up with a groundout, a sacrifice fly and a two-out single.
The Black Sox answered in the top of the fourth when Tucker walked and scored when Orender’s shot to short got through.
But errors had a role in both of Texarkana’s subsequent runs. In the fourth, an error was followed by an RBI double. In the sixth, a pair of walks, a single and an error made it 7-5.
