By Rob Patrick

Lucas Castleberry and Evan Jobe fuled a five-run fourth-inning rally for the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion at Bryant High School Field on Wednesday.

The Sox were trailing the Hot Springs Village Knights Junior team, 5-2, going into the home fourth. The rally gave Bryant a 7-5 win, improving its record to 4-1 going into a doubleheader at home on Sunday against Little Rock Continental Express.

A one-out pinch-hit single by Blake Davidson got the Sox' comeback started in the home fourth. Chris Joiner reached on an error as Davidson hustled to third. Joiner moved up on a wild pitch before Castleberry came through in the clutch with a shot down the left field line to drive both home.

With two down, Castleberry, noticing that the Knights weren't holding him close at second, took off and stole third as Brady Butler drew a walk. Consecutive walks to Landon Pickett and Tyler Brown forced in the tying run, setting the table for Jobe's two-out liner to right on a 3-2 pitch for a two-run single that put the Sox on top.

BAUXITE — On the verge of suffering a second consecutive loss on the same day, the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning then held on to forge a 7-5 victory over Little Rock Continental Express in pool play at the Benton Tournament held at Bauxite High School on Saturday.

With Sunday's games washed out by rain, the Sox were unable to play their third pool game to earn a shot at the championship round of the event. The Sox will return to action on Sunday, May 31, with a doubleheader rematch with Continental Express.

A two-out error opened the door for the Bryant rally. Landon Pickett and Evan Jobe had drawn walks to start the frame but two outs later, they had only advanced to second and third. After fouling off a 2-2 pitch to stay alive, Reese O'Rourke put the ball in play. The fly to right was mishandled and both runs scored to give the Sox a 4-3 lead.

Chris Joiner, who was 3-for-3 in the game, cracked a single to left to keep the inning going then Lucas Castleberry drove in a run with a single. And when the ball was misplayed in center, the Sox again had runners at second and third. Caleb Milam followed with a bouncer that got past the Continental third baseman and both Joiner and Castleberry scored to put the Sox in front 7-3.

By Rob Patrick

The most notorious example of the Bryant Black Sox' second-game droops came in 2007 of all seasons. The team lost 7-1 to Lake Hamilton and looked so bad that manager Craig Harrison wondered whether his team could manage a .500 season. He and coach Tic Harrison convened a team meeting in the outfield after the game, called their team out for its effort and the wind sprints across the outfield grass commenced.

Ironically, that team not only played better than .500, they won 41 games, claimed a State championship and a Regional title on the way to become the first Bryant team to reach the American Legion World Series.

Another lackluster performance against the Wolves in 2008 resulted in a sprint session as well. So, going into Tuesday's second game of the season, again with Lake Hamilton, the Sox were made well aware of the history.

As it turned out, a crisply played game for six innings turned into a white-knuckler at the end but the Sox survived with a 6-4 victory thanks to a fine fielding play from second baseman Austin Benning and a heads-up reaction by pitcher Tyler Sawyer.

By Rob Patrick

With injuries and an already thin staff, the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team flat ran out of fresh arms at the end of the season last summer when they finished runner-up at the District Tournament and made it to State. They finished with a 23-18 record after being ousted from the State tourney after two games.

A pitching shortage shouldn't be a problem this summer, according the manager Brad Chism, who served as an assistant for last year's squad.

"I think, at this point, we've got about 11 or 12 pitchers," he stated. "Last year, we had five or six. I feel comfortable putting any of these guys out there. I think we can get outs with them. We've got good defense behind them that'll make plays and up and down the lineup, as far as I can see, we can hit. Some positions, we're two and three deep. So, I think, all around, we're in good shape."

The Sox open the 2009 season on Monday, May 18, at home against the Hot Springs Junior team.