Sox sweep way through tourney
MEMPHIS -– After a
2-9 start to the American Legion season, the Bryant 19U Black Sox were looking for some validation going into this past weekend’s Memphis Midsummer
Tournament (formerly The Hagan). They definitely got it, sweeping their way to a title championship on Sunday night over Easley Baseball, a close 10-9 decision after handling their previous opponents.
In fact, the Black Sox (7-9) shut out their first three opponents, including Will Hathcote’s perfect game in the second, outscoring their foes 29-0 (10-0 over Easley, 11-0 vs. Wow Factor and 8-0 vs. Houston High School) in those first three matches. Coby Greiner would handle the Memphis Tigers 5-3 in the semifinals before Tyler
Bates closed the door on Easley in the championship.
But, things weren’t looking good from the get-go in the title game as Easley took a 6-1 advantage over the Black Sox after two and a half innings, but Bryant wouldn’t lay down. Logan Catton led the bottom of the third off with a double to center and scored when Cade Drennan, the tourney MVP, also doubled to make it a 6-2 game. The Sox would get their next three runs via error to cut the deficit to 6-5 after three.
But, Easley took advan
tage of a couple Bryant errors in the fourth to make it an 8-5 game, but the Black Sox would scratch a run across in the bottom of the inning on Drennan’s one-out walk, Peyton Dillon’s double and Greiner’s RBI ground out for the 8-6 deficit.
Easley would pick up an unearned run in the sixth to make it 9-6, but that would be it as Bryant mounted its comeback in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Riggs walked and Catton singled before Drennan came through with an RBI single to make it 9-7. A walk to Dillon ensued to load the bases and Greiner took another base on balls to force in a run for the RBI and 2-run deficit.
Two strikeouts followed, but the Black Sox would get some help from Easley pitching as Speer scored on a passed ball to tie things up and Dillon also scored on a passed ball for the 10-9 lead, which held thanks to Bates, who retired Easley in order in the seventh.
Bates picked up the win in the title game giving up an unearned run on just one hit and two walks, striking out one in four innings.
“Tyler Bates threw the last four innings of the championship game and was able to keep a really good team from scoring any more runs to help win the ballgame,” Bryant Coach Darren Hurt said.
It was the heart of the Black Sox order that came through as Catton, Drennan and Dillon combined to go 6 for 8 with four runs and three RBIS, with
Connor Martin adding a hit. Greiner had three RBIS without a hit, with Drennan adding two and Dillon one.
It was Greiner in the semifinals who kept the Tigers at bay. Greiner gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks, striking out six in a complete six innings for the win.
Offensively, the Sox jumped on Memphis in the first inning as Riggs took a one-out walk, Catton singled and Riggs scored on a Drennan double for the early 1-0 lead. Dillon followed with an RBI single and courtesy runner Slade Renfrow scored on Greiner’s squeeze bunt for the 3-0 lead after one.
The Tigers made it 3-1 in the second scoring on a passed ball and came within 3-2 in the fourth scoring on a sacrifice fly. But, an RBI single by Noah Davis and RBI bases-loaded walk by Riggs made it 5-2 before Memphis picked up an unearned run in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Blaine Sears had two of Bryant’s six hits in the affair going 2 for 3 with a run. Drennan, Dillon and Davis all went 1 for 3 with an RBI, with Catton adding a hit and run, and Riggs adding an RBI without a hit.
It was all Hathcote in the second game of the tourney as he pitched the perfect game in an 11-0 victory over Wow Factor. Hathcote faced the minimum with no hits or walks, striking out eight in his perfect five innings, needing just 66 total pitches.
The offense was on fire, too, as the Black Sox pounded out 12 hits led by Riggs’ 3-for-3 performance with an RBI. Dillon went 3 for 4 with two RBIS, Gage Stark was 2 for 3 with three RBIS and Drennan had four RBIS and two runs for his 1-for-2 day. Davis, Catton and Greiner all added a hit each in the win.
It was Renfrow in the third game who dominated. Despite six walks, Renfrow through a one-hit shutout, striking out six in five innings. Joshua Turner pitched a perfect inning in the sixth with a strikeout to finish up the 8-0 win over Houston High School.
The Black Sox offense was also on fire as Riggs, Catton, Drennan, Dillon and Greiner all had two-hit games in the rout, with Drennan and Greiner adding two RBIS apiece. Speer added a hit and two walks in the win.
For the tourney opener, it was Blaine Sears who shut down Easley Weaver on the mound. Sears pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out seven vs. two walks in a complete six innings for the win.
“Our first three games we threw Blaine Sears, Hathcote threw his perfect game and then Slade
Renfrow threw the third game and we had given up zero runs the first three games,” Hurt said. “Our pitching was really good.”
As far as Drennan’s MVP performance, Hurt said,
“He was really good all weekend offensively. Some others were Peyton Dillon, who was good offensively and also defensively at first base.”
The Black Sox really rebounded for their tournament championship after a really, really tough start.
“Really, we were off to a slow start,” Hurt said. “We’ve had different lineups and kind of looking at some options on lineups. We had some guys we had to replace. The slow start was a little bit of everything, but I think the biggest thing was we weren’t playing like teams had in the past. We challenged them this weekend and they played really hard for five games.”
Hurt said he expected a little rustiness, but not to a 2-9 extent.
“We had about a week and a half to really get ready to go,” he said. “We were expecting it to be a little bit of a slow start, but obviously we weren’t expecting to be 2-9. We knew it would take a little bit of time.”
The senior Sox will attempt to make it six and seven straight tonight when they host Lake Hamilton for a doubleheader at Bryant High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.