MORRILTON — Aided by a couple of miscues by the Morrilton AA American Legion team, the Bryant Sport Shop Black Sox were on the comeback trail Tuesday night at Dr. Ray Fullerton Field. So, at one point, the Morrilton coaches shifted their defenders around. Among the shifts was the move of centerfielder Ryan Andrews to left field.
Andrews, the strong-armed southpaw, had out-dueled Bryant’s Joey Cates in a 2-1 Morrilton victory in the first game of the doubleheader.
In the second game, the Sox trailed 5-1 going into the top of the fifth in a scheduled five-inning contest. But their comeback had whittled the margin to 5-4 with the potential tying run on third and go-ahead run on first with one out. Myers Buck lifted a flyball to left. With the runner at third, Matthew Sandidge, tagging, Andrews came in to haul in Buck’s fly. Sandidge took off for home and, had it been anyone but Andrews throwing to the plate, he may have made it. But Andrews was there and fired a strike to his brother Hunter Andrews, the catcher, in time for a tag on Sandidge that ended the game as the Black Sox suffered their second gut-punch loss of the evening.
The setbacks dropped Sport Shop to 8-6 on the season going into a doubleheader at Hot Springs on Friday.
Of course, Morrilton, like Sheridan and Hot Springs among others, is a 19-and-under AA team, the same as a Senior Legion team but drawing from smaller high schools. Bryant, drawing from one of the largest high schools in the state, is an 18-and-under AA team, which includes several players that were freshmen or sophomores in high school in the spring. Considering the Sport Shop team has played only two games against large-school AA teams this season (Jonesboro Armor Seed, both wins) and the rest against 19-and-under teams, their 8-6 mark and the closeness of their games has been impressive.
And that’s a good sign for what’s to come. In post-season play (Zone and State Tournaments), the AA Sox will be competing with those 19-and-under teams.
As for Tuesday’s games at Morrilton, defensive breakdowns plagued Bryant. Errors played a roll in both of Morrilton’s runs in the first game and two more in the second contest.
Morrilton built a 4-0 lead in the nightcap. An error started the bottom of the first allowing Kannon Bradley to reach. He was balked to second and took third on a passed ball before Garrett Bradley singled him home. Reggie Toney followed with a two-run homer. In the second, Luke Zimmerman blooped a single to right and Ryan Andrews walked. Bryant starter Hunter Oglesby retired the next two batters including one on strikes — one of seven he recorded in three innings of work on the mound. The inning appeared to be over but another error cost the Sox as the lead became 4-0.
Bryant had threatened in the top of the second when Caleb Chaffin slapped one of his two singles in the game, Christian Harp reached on an error and C.J. Wallace singled to left to load the bases with two out. But Morrilton starter Trent Tindall ended the threat with a strikeout.
In the top of the fourth, the Sox got on the board when Sandidge singled with one out, Harp walked and Buck came through with an RBI single. Tindall gave way to Jace Hill on the mound for Morrilton and, after Wallace bunted runners to second and third, escaped further damage.
With Drew Brown on the hill for the Sox, Morrilton got that run back in the home fourth on a single by Kannon Bradley and a two-out double by Toney.
The Sox mounded a comeback in the top of the fifth when Cates walked, stole second, took third on an errant throw and scored on a single up the middle by Brown. A wild pitch allowed Brown to take second and, with one out, Chaffin’s second hit, a bad-hop single to right, plated Brown.
Sandidge followed with a grounder to third that drew an errant throw to second as Morrilton tried to start a doubleplay. A wild pitch allowed Chaffin and Sandidge to move to second and third for Harp. On another pitch in the dirt, Harp struck out but the ball got away from the catcher and not only did Harp reach first safely but Chaffin scored to make it 5-4 with Buck coming to the plate.
In the opener, Cates limited Morrilton to just three singles, walked three and struck out four. The Sox had six hits including two by Daniel Darbonne against Andrews but stranded six.
They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Buck walked, Jeffrey Hastings slapped a single to right and Darbonne laced a base hit to left, all with two down. Hastings swiped third but Andrews escaped further wreckage.
Meanwhile, Cates worked around a pair of walks in the first and a single in the third. In the top of the fourth, Sandidge walked and stole second with no one out but the Sox couldn’t move him around.
In the home half, Toney singled and took second on a wild pitch. But Cates retired the next two. Toney moved to third on Tindall’s grounder to second. With Hunter Andrews at the plate, an errant pickoff throw allowed Toney to score the tying run.
Cates walked Andrews but then struck out his brother, Ryan, to keep it deadlocked.
After the Sox were retired in order in the top of the fifth, Morrilton plated the go-ahead run. Ben Smith reached on an errant throw to first that went down the right-field line. He sprinted all the way to third. He then scored on Kannon Bradley’s groundout.
Garrett Bradley singled but Cates retired the next two on flies to Hastings in right and Sandidge, who made a nice play on a deep drive, in left.
In Bryant’s sixth, Sandidge beat out an infield hit with two down but was stranded. Cates worked a 1-2-3 home sixth but, in the seventh, Andrews retired the first two before Darbonne singled to left. He too was stranded when Andrews finished the game with his ninth strikeout.
