MOUNTAIN HOME - After going 0 for 3 in his first three plate appearances, Bryant catcher Hayden Lessenbury saved his team from dropping into the losers’ bracket with two big hits in the final two innings.
With the Black Sox trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the eighth, Lessenbury smacked a home run to left field and delivered and RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Bryant edged the Blytheville Casons 4-3 on Saturday in the first full day of the American Legion Baseball Senior State Tournament at Cooper Park.
“The home run saves the day, and then he comes back and gets the game-winning hit,” Bryant Coach Darren Hurt said. “He had some trouble with his earlier at-bats, but he stepped up big for us at the end.”
The game was a pitchers’ duel for most of the afternoon with five of the seven runs coming in the bottom of the second and top of the fourth. Taylor Hopper was the second consecutive Blytheville pitcher to go nine innings, but he gave up four earned runs and was tagged with the loss. Hayden Daniel, the younger brother of former Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Trent Daniel, went eight innings for the Black Sox, and all three runs scored off him were unearned.
Bryant, (35-3), which has lost to only one team from Arkansas all season, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Tyler Nelson led off with a double to right field and Chase Tucker was hit by a pitch. Back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Austin Caldwell and Korey Thompson scored both runners.
Jamal Washington led off the game with a single for the Casons (17-19) but Bryant turned a double play as Daniel retired the next nine Blytheville batters. With one out in the top of the fourth, Ricky Gable reached on and error and Justin Mann was hit by a pitch. A double by Ty Waggoner scored Gable, a sacrifice bunt by Jake Westmoreland scored Mann and another Bryant error enabled Waggoner to score to give Blyethville a 3-2 lead.
After Bryant scored its first two runs in the bottom of the second, Hopper didn’t allow another run until Lessenbury hit his home run with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
Zach Jackson relieved Daniel in the top of the ninth and retired three of the four batters he faced. Hopper then retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth before walking Marcus Wilson, who stole second base and scored on Lessenbury’s single down the third-base line.
Lessenbury and Wilson each had two hits for Bryant, while Washington had two for Blytheville.
TEXARKANA 6, JONESBORO 1
Jonathan Bulcher pitched a complete game as the Razorbacks (33-11) cruised past the Ricemen (29-10).
Trever Rucker led Texarkana with three hits, and Austin Roark and Jackson Murphy each had two.
Cameron Jones and Hunter Simpson each had two hits for Jonesboro.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 8, MOUNTAIN HOME 3
During the opening ceremony before the third game of the day, it was announced that the baseball field at Cooper Park was being renamed Lester White Field after the Mountain Home Lockeroom coach who has headed the program for the last 30 years.
Dylan Huckaby led the NLR Colts (32-4) with three hits, two RBI and two runs while Jack Partlow also had three hits and Gunner Allen had two hits and three RBI.
Four different players had one hit for Mountain Home (19-17). Austin Gardner had two RBIs and Dakota Rhymer scored two runs.
At a glance THURSDAY’S GAME Blytheville 7, Rogers 1 FRIDAY’S GAME Bentonville 8, Russellville 6 SATURDAY’S GAMES Texarkana 6, Jonesboro 1 Bryant 4, Blytheville 3 North Little Rock 8, Mountain Home 3 Game 6 Rogers vs. Russellville, (n) TODAY’S GAMES Game 7 Blytheville vs. Mountain Home, 10 a.m.
Game 8 Winner game 6 vs. Jonesboro, 2 p.m.
Game 9 Bentonville vs. Texarkana, 6 p.m.
Game 10 North Little Rock vs. Bryant, 9 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAMES
Game 11 Winner game 7 vs. Loser game
9, 1 p.m.
Game 12 Loser game 10 vs. Winner
game 8, 4 p.m.
Game 13 Winner game 9 vs. Winner
game 10, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Game 14 Winner game 12 vs. Winner
game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 15 Loser game 13 vs. Winner
game 14, 4 p.m.
Game 16 Winner game 13 vs. Winner
game 15, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Game 17 If necessary game, 4 p.m.
Sports, Pages 36 on 07/28/2013