BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bryant's Travis Wood started the Southern League All-Star game for the North Division and retired all three batters he faced, two on flyouts and another on a groundout Monday night. Wood threw 11 pitches, eight of them for strikes and wound up combining with nine other pitchers on a four-hit shutout as the North won 7-0.

Wood is at the top of the league or near it in several categories including earned run average (1.27), wins (8), strikeouts (95), innings (112) and WHIP (walks+hits per inning) (0.99) while pitching for the Carolina Mudcats of the Cincinnati Reds organization.

The Bryant 9-year-old Cal Ripken All-Stars have advanced to the winners bracket finals of their State tournament in Magniolia. They were set to play Benton this afternoon for a spot in the championship round of the tourney.

The 9s opened with a 18-0 win over El Dorado on Friday. They knocked off Marion 12-2 on Saturday then drubbed Sylvan Hills 10-0 on Sunday to reach today's game.

Details of the tournament will be forthcoming upon its conclusion.

* * *

The Bryant 7-year-old All-Stars, playing in the 8-year-old Cal Ripken State Tournament received a rugged draw opening against a pair of strong 8-year-old teams. A 4-1 loss to Little Rock Junior Deputy's 8s on Friday was followed by a 9-1 loss to the Sylvan Hills Bombers, another 8-year-old team. In the second loss, Bryant was within 3-1 through three innings before a six-run fourth put Sylvan Hills in control. 

CABOT — After being no-hit in the State opener, the Bryant 11-year-old Cal Ripken All-Stars battled back through the losers bracket to finish in third place at the State Tournament. In the process, they nailed down the third of three bids to Regionals to be held in Jonesboro beginning July 30.

The comeback began with a 9-3 win over Benton on Saturday. Later in the day, they ousted Cabot, 12-0. On Sunday, Bryant eliminated Marion 12-0 to set up a game with Hot Springs with the winner advancing to the championship round. But Hot Springs prevailed 10-1.

Bryant’s 11-year-olds, coached by Bryon Glenn with assistance from Johnny Alliston and Scott Yant, include Connor Alliston, Bailey Bowers, Luke Brantley, Chase Brooks, Zach Byars, Jordan Gentry, Caleb McElyea, Liam Miller, Connor Riley, Connor Tatum, Matthew Vangilder and Hunter Winkles.

Regionals will be in Jonesboro beginning July 30.

LITTLE ROCK — A tough 7-5 loss to the Little Rock Junior Deputy All-Stars have the Bryant 12-and-under Cal Ripken All-Stars (50/70) scrambling to get another shot at them in the championship round.

Bryant opened with a 19-1 blowout over Jacksonville on Friday, July 10, then drubbed Hot Springs 11-0 to advance to the winners bracket final against Junior Deputy on Sunday.

Tonight, they’re set to play the survivor of the Benton-Lakewood game earlier in the evening. With a win, Bryant would need to beat Junior Deputy twice on Tuesday and win the tournament and gain a bid to Regionals in Springdale.

The Bryant 12-year-olds who play on the diamond with 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot basepaths, coached by Danny Jackson, include Ben Bruick, Britan Crouch, Devin Dupree, Hunter Fugitt, Jason Hastings, Dalton Holt, Zachary Jackson, Hunter Oglesby, Blake Patterson, Drew Tipton, Jacob Ward, Brandon Warner and John Winn.

The 2008 Babe Ruth World Series champions for 13-year-olds are now 14. This year, they will be the host team for the Southwest Regional Tournament at Bryant High School field, with a chance to return to World Series play.

The 14-year-old All-Stars and all the other squads from the Bryant Athletic Association are now set for the post-season with expectations for the continued success at District, State, Regional and National levels.Several of the Cal Ripken League teams (ages 6 through 12) begin District Tournament play on Friday, June 26.Here are the teams:

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.

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.

With Conway's 13-3 win over Cabot on Tuesday night and a sweep of a conference doubleheader by the Rogers Mounties over the crosstown rival Heritage team, the brackets are set for the Class 7A State Tournament to be played at Fayetteville High School and Randall Tyson Sports Complex in Springdale.

The Bryant Hornets, champions of the 7A-Central Conference, will open play on Saturday at noon against the winner of the Friday game between Rogers and Cabot. Rogers is the No. 4 seed from the West, Cabot the No. 5 seed from the Central.

Fayetteville has won the last three Class 7A championships. 

Here are the brackets:

2009 BRYANT HORNETS STATS

Unofficial through 29 games

Name AB R H D T HR BI *BB SO SB BA

Landon Pickett 6 3 3 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 .500

Hunter Mayall 87 24 39 7 0 0 18 14 5 6 .448

Tyler Sawyer 74 13 32 8 1 1 22 17 8 1 .432

Justin Blankenship 67 21 28 9 3 1 23 9 8 6 .418

Chris Joiner 17 8 7 2 0 0 3 5 2 1 .412

Kaleb Jobe 77 9 31 4 0 3 23 21 9 0 .403

Jacob Clark 5 5 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 .400

Caleb Garrett 59 23 23 4 0 0 9 7 13 12 .390

Lucas Castleberry 14 2 5 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 .357

Brennan Bullock 75 16 25 0 0 0 16 18 14 6 .333

Austin Benning 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 .333

Brady Butler 70 14 22 4 0 0 16 21 19 2 .314

Garrett Bock 51 10 15 1 0 0 5 8 4 2 .294

Hunter Alford 16 5 4 2 0 0 5 2 3 1 .250

Tyler Brown 54 9 12 2 0 0 11 7 7 1 .222

Jonathan Wade 14 23 3 2 0 0 5 4 2 4 .214

Jordan Taylor 18 3 2 0 0 0 2 5 6 2 .111

Caleb Milam 11 1 1 0 0 0 3 2 5 0 .090

B.J. Ellis 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 .000

Evan Jobe 7 8 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 .000

Austin Queck 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .000

Ben Wells 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 0 .000

Dylan Cross 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000

Totals 749 201 256 46 4 5 172 160 118 47 .342

Name W-L IP R ER H *BB SO **ERA

Matt Neal 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -----

Bo Stitch 0-0 0.2 0 0 1 0 0 0.00

Jordan Taylor 3-1 18.2 5 2 14 6 29 0.75

Landon Pickett 1-0 6.1 2 2 3 3 4 2.21

Ben Wells 4-2 40.1 25 16 33 24 45 2.78

Caleb Milam 3-1 26 14 12 37 12 16 3.23

Blake Davidson 2-0 12.1 8 6 13 13 11 3.41

Tyler Sawyer 6-2 41.2 27 21 46 14 58 3.53

Kaleb Jobe 1-1 29.2 18 15 37 9 24 3.54

Tyler Brown 1-0 2.2 2 2 5 2 3 5.25

Austin Queck 0-0 3 5 4 5 3 1 9.33

Totals 21-7 181.1 106 80 194 87 191 3.09

Saves: Jobe 3, Wells 2, Pickett 1, Sawyer 1.

*includes hit by pitch.

**based on earned runs per seven innings.

By Rob Patrick

BRYANT, AR — As tune-up games go, Monday's regular-season finale went pretty well for the Bryant Hornets baseball team. Three pitchers including starter Caleb Milam, who was making his first varsity appearance since April 14, got some work in and combined on a four-hitter; senior Tyler Sawyer got a night off to rest the leg he tweaked on Saturday at Pine Bluff; and the Hornets reached double digits in runs scored for the fourth time in the last five games.

They also flashed some leather. Caleb Garrett in center, Hunter Mayall at third, Kaleb Jobe at short and, later with Jobe on the mound, Jordan Taylor at short all made fine plays. It was the Hornets second consecutive errorless effort. 

The 11-1 win over Lake Hamilton also kept their momentum going. The fifth win in a row and 10th in the last 12 games makes them 22-7 going into the Class 7A State Tournament which begins Friday in Fayetteville and Springdale. With the championship of the 7A-Central Conference, the Hornets will open at noon on Saturday at Springdale's Randall Tyson Center against the survivor of a Friday game.