LONOKE — In a seesaw battle, the Bryant 7-year-old All-Stars outslugged the Cabot All-Stars on the way to a 12-10 win in the first round of the Cal Ripken 8-and-under State Tournament on Friday night.
Bryant was set to play Benton on Saturday night as the tourney continued.
The team, coached by Chris Pringle, includes Blake Brower, Cannon Chalmers, Carson Dozier, Jake Elliott, Cooper Hatman, Lyndon Johnson, Hunter Markham, Reid Mitchell, Paxton Pringle, Max Rauth, Jaxon Riggs, Drew Tate-Lee and Jackson Trusty
“Not sure if we had first-game jitters but we jumped out early then got complacent,” said Pringle. “Couple that with a great effort by Cabot and we had a nail-biter. We played probably one of our most inconsistent game of the season but snuck out the ‘W’.
“I’m super proud of the boys, however we have a tough game against Benton in the second round,” he added.
Bryant pounded out 18 hits with Hatman leading the way with three while knocking in a trio of runs. Tate-Lee knocked in three as well.
Bryant’s quick start was a six-run first. Elliott led off with a single, stole second and scored on a base hit to left by Brower. A knock by Riggs set the table for Mitchell’s RBI double. Hatman then lined one to right and circled the bases for a three-run homer to make it 5-0.
Infield hits by Markham and Dozier led to Tate-Lee’s RBI single to make it 6-0.
Cabot got a run back in the bottom of the first then trimmed another off the lead in the second while holding down the Bryant offense. In the third, Cabot erupted for the maximum of six runs, surging to an 8-6 lead.
But the advantage didn’t last long. In the top of the fourth, Hatman and Markham singled and Hatman scored. Dozier stroked a base hit to left to bring Markham in with the tying run.
Johnson doubled to put runners at second and third then Tate-Lee chased them home with a triple. Chalmers picked up an RBI on a grounder to short, making it 11-8.
Cabot got nothing in the fourth. In Bryant’s fifth, Elliott drilled a one-out triple and scored on Brower’s groundout to make it 12-8.
Gamely, Cabot rallied with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to two runs but, in the bottom of the sixth, Bryant retired the side in order to close out the win.
