Two big innings, solid pitching lift Hornets to run-rule win over Razorbacks
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue 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).
It was a good day for the Garretts at Bryant High School Field Saturday.
Caleb Garrett belted a 3-run inside-the-park home run and a triple while Garrett Bock added two hits including a two-run double and scored twice in Bryant’s 11-1 romp over the Texarkana Razorbacks in five innings. Jordan Taylor also had two hits for the Hornets, driving in three runs.
Ben Wells went the distance on the mound allowing one unearned run on four hits with six strikeouts without a walk to improve to 2-0 on the season.[more]
The Hornets, now 4-0, will host Pine Bluff on Monday before traveling to Benton on Thursday, March 11, for a renewal of their rivalry.
Texarkana’s lone run came in the top of the first inning Saturday. A bloop singled, a stolen base that drew an errant throw and a two-out passed ball got the run home. Wells fanned two in the inning.
The lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, Bock slapped a single to right with one down and Hunter Mayall drew a walk. Brennan Bullock bounced into a force at second as Bock took third. With two down and two strikes, Taylor came through with an RBI single to tie it. Brady Butler followed with a two-run double to put the Hornets on top.
After Lucas Castleberry walked, Garrett drove a shot over the left-fielder’s head to the fence. And when the left fielder got tangled up in the fence trying to retrieve the ball, Garrett circled the bases scoring behind Butler and Castleberry, making it 6-1.
Wells gave up just three hits the rest of the way. Two of them came in the third but he was able to pitch out of the jam.
Bryant made it a run-rule lead in the bottom of the fourth when Garrett pulled another drive into left, down the line, for a triple. Dylan Cross tried to push a bunt to the right side on a safety squeeze. The Texarkana pitcher fielded the ball and chose to hold Garrett at third as Cross reached first. Hayden Daniel, on as a courtesy runner for the catcher Cross, swiped second. Both runners then held as Chris Joiner reached on a grounder to third that was booted.
With the sacks jammed, Bock ripped a two-run double to make it 8-1.
Mayall drew a walk to load the bags again and, with one down, Taylor singled in two more.
With runners at the corners and two down, a balk allowed the 11th run to score.
Wells finished off the win by working around a two-out error in the top of the fifth.
“Ben did a good job,” stated Hornets coach Kirk Bock. “His pitch count just got a little too high. He had 80 pitches in a five-inning game and didn’t walk anybody.
“It went well,” the coach added. “We had a couple of errors but we’ll work through those.”
