Lawson Speer and Logan White each had two hits as the Bryant Black Sox Senior American Legion team took advantage of eight walks and three errors by Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet for a 7-2 win at Bryant High School Field.
The Sox improved to 13-7 going into a trip to Jacksonville on Thursday, June 24.
Bryant used four pitchers to shackle Jacksonville on two hits. Colby Morrow pitched the first three innings and Josh Turner went two. Caleb Greiner and Tyler Bates finished up with an inning apiece.
Morrow struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 first. He then pitched around a pair of lead-off walks in the second.
Bryant grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. Cade Parker’s infield hit ignited the uprising. With one out, an errant pickoff throw allowed Parker to race all the way to third. He would score on a wild pitch as Ethan Andrews drew a walk.
A free pass to Blaine Sears put runners at first and second. They moved up a base each when Speer grounded out to first. Another wild pitch and Andrews came home. Sears followed to make it 3-0 on White’s infield hit.
A walk, a hit batter, a steal and a balk produced a run for Jacksonville in the top of the third. A single and a walk loaded the bases, but Morrow induced a grounder to White at second to get out of the jam.
In turn, Bryant loaded the bags on walks to Morrow, Will Hathcote and Drew Hatman. Andrews’ bloop single to right chased home a run.
Turner relieved and surrendered a lead-off single. The batter was sacrificed to second but then a pair of hit batsmen loaded the bases. A run scored on a fielder’s choice that wound up being a doubleplay when the batter tried to take second after the force at third but was thrown out.
White’s one-out single in the bottom of the fourth led to another run for Bryant in the home fourth. Martin’s grounder to third got through and runners wound up at second and third. With two down, White scored on a wild pitch, and it was 5-2.
Turner struck two more batters in the top of the fifth, but Jacksonville was unable to take advantage.
A one-out error in the bottom of the inning allowed Hatman to reach base. Andrews drew a free pass and, after Hatman stole third, Sears got a squeeze bunt down to get him home.
Greiner walked a pair but wriggled off the hook in the sixth then Speer led off the home half with a triple. White was struck by a 1-0 delivery and Conner Martin delivered the seventh run with a sacrifice fly to left.
Bates finished up by striking out the side in the top of the seventh.
