Sport Shop Sox hustle to victory in season opener
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Old coaches and new will tell you, the easiest thing for a player to do is run hard, to hustle. Great talent, limited talent, you’ll never be embarrassed if you run hard. And hustling? Well that can make all sorts of good things happen.
Such was the case for the Bryant Sport Shop Black Sox AA American Legion team in their 2015 season debut on Monday night at Bryant High School field. Trailing 3-0, they came to bat in the bottom of the third. The first pitch from Maumelle AA pitcher Andrew Howard hit Jeffrey Hastings bringing the top of the batting order around. With Joey Cates at the plate, Howard unleashed a wild pitch, the first of six he would throw in his 2 2/3 innings.
With Hastings at second, Cates got a bunt down. Running hard, he beat it out for a hit as Hastings scampered to third. Another wild pitch was uncorked with Hunter Oglesby at the plate. Hastings sprinted home and Cates, never slowing down, hustled to third before the Maumelle catcher, Eli Young, could retrieve the ball and get a throw away.
Oglesby followed with a long fly to center that, had Cates not hustled to third, would’ve just been an out. But with Cates on third, it was a sacrifice fly that cut the lead to 3-2.
That brought up Jordan Gentry who hit a flair down the right-field line that just evaded the glove of second baseman Zack Burroughs as he ranged over after it. Gentry did the hustling this time and slid into second before Burroughs could get the ball back there.
After a passed ball allowed Gentry to take third, Caleb Chaffin slice a humpback liner to left-center that he legged out for the first of his three doubles in the game.
With the game tied 3-3, Christian Harp walked and a pair of wild pitches allowed Chaffin to score, putting the Sox on top. With Harp at second, Daniel Darbonne hit a bouncer to short that drew a wild throw to first. Harp scored and Darbonne went to second.
Now it was Darbonne’s turn to hustle it up. He was on the run trying to steal third as C.J. Wallace hit a roller to second. Burroughs charged, fielded and threw to first for the out but, meanwhile, Darbonne never slowed down as he rounded third and scored from second on a grounder to the right side.
With the lead now 6-3, Diego Vargas drew a walk and advanced on a wild pitch. Hastings followed with a single to right, driving home Vargas. Another wild pitch and an RBI single by Cates made it 8-3.
That’s how the Sox took control of Monday’s game, which they wound up winning 18-8 in five innings. Along with Chaffin’s 3-for-3 game, Cates wound up 4 for 5 with five runs batted in. Gentry had two hits and Hastings was on base four times.
Cates wound up the winning pitcher. He had started the game and struggled with his control about as much as the Maumelle batters struggled to get a hit. In fact, they pushed across their first three runs without one. The first safety was a two-out single by Burroughs in the fourth.
A run in the first scored on a walk and a pair of errors. The two in the second came courtesy of three walks and an error.
In the top of the fourth, Maumelle cut into the lead with two walks and Burroughs’ two-out RBI single. After another walk, Cates gave way to Noah Easterling who surrendered a single and a walk, which produced a third run but got Wyatt Chandler to roll to Chaffin at first to end the inning with the Sox hanging onto an 8-6 lead.
It didn’t stay close long. Dillon Telford, who had relieved and gotten the final out of the third, was greeted by Gentry in the fourth with a solid single to left. He stole second and scored on Chaffin’s second double, ripped into left-center. Myers Buck walked and, after a wild pitch, Darbonne singled a run in.
With Buck at third, Darbonne swiped second and C.J. Wallace picked up an RBI single with an infield hit. And when a late throw to first went awry, Darbonne followed Buck home, making it 12-6.
Walks to Easterling and Hastings loaded the bases for Cates, who yanked a liner down the right-field line for a two-run double.
The Sox had scored six runs and an out had not been recorded in the inning.
Brody Ammons became the third Maumelle pitcher and he got Oglesby to ground to short. But the Sox’ centerfielder picked up his second RBI as Hastings hustled home.
Cates would score on Gentry’s grounder to second. Chaffin’s third two-bagger followed before Ammons got the final out.
Up 16-6, the Sox got to within a strike of ending the game there. But a two-run double by J.D. Bengston on a two-strike, two-out delivery kept Maumelle alive as Carter Reynolds, who had been hit by a pitch, and Ty Anderson, who singled, crossed the plate.
Oglesby kept it at that, however, by getting Ammons to ground one to Darbonne for the third out.
So, the Sox batted in the bottom of the fifth. Ammons got a strikeout to start the frame but then walked Wallace, Grayson Prince and Hastings to load the bases for Cates, who capped of his monster night at the plate with a two-run single to end the game.
Sport Shop returns to action on Wednesday night when they host Hot Springs for a doubleheader.
