Jason Hastings enjoyed a solid game at the plate and on the mound Wednesday in the Central Arkansas All-Star Baseball Game at UALR's Curran-Conway Park.
Hastings, one of six Bryant Hornets to play in the annual contest, banged out two hits, including the game-winner in the seventh inning. That hit allowed him to collect the pitching victory for the West All-Stars in a 7-5 decision over the East All-Stars.
Hastings, who has signed to play for Arkansas Tech, broke a 5-5 tie when he lined a single to right off Blake Maddox of Sylvan Hills to score Conway St. Joseph's Jacob Lampe in the seventh inning. Hastings' hit allowed the West to compete a rally from a 5-1 deficit.
"I thought I would get a curveball and I did," Hastings said.
Like the majority of the 16 pitchers used Wednesday, Hastings worked one inning. He stepped to the mound at the top of the seventh with the East leading 5-4. He walked a batter and gave up a single, but a forceout and fly-out got him out of the jam and set up the West rally.
Blaine Knight, a University of Arkansas signee and Hasting's teammate at Bryant, was the exception to the one-inning pitch rule. Knight struck out five of the seven batters he faced. Lonoke's Cody Martin reached on an error with two outs in the ninth inning, spoiling Knight's perfect outing.
"Blaine has been our ace for the last two years," Hastings said. "He's done a great job for us. When he's on the mound, we play with confidence."
Knight played hurt for the Hornets during the regular season.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," Knight said. "I finally been able to get some rest, so I was feeling pretty good tonight."
It was a good night for a lot of players from Saline County.
Bauxite's Ben Madison pitched one perfect inning, striking out two. Madison gave the West a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a leadoff single, and he eventually scored on a wild pitch. Harmony Grove's Zach Caplinger and Logan Clay each had a hit, and Bryant's Connor Tatum singled and drove in a run with a groundout.
The East used four hits and an error to score all five of its runs in the fifth inning. Jonathon Carruth of Little Rock Central, who was 2 for 2, drove in two runs with a single during the outburst. Martin drove in a run with a ground ball, while Lonoke's Christian James and Jacksonville's Ryan Mallison doubled during the inning.
The West got three runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Caplinger started the inning with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Bauxite's Jeffrey Storment singled in a run to cut the East lead to 5-3, and Tatum's RBI ground ball made it 5-4.
In the eighth, the West added a run on a single by Lake Hamilton's Grayson Langston.
The West held a 12-9 advantage in hits. Both teams committed three errors.
Sports on 05/28/2015