LITTLE ROCK — Texarkana’s hot bats were no match for Jordan Taylor on Sunday night at Desalvo Stadium.
Taylor struck out 11 and limited Texarkana to seven hits as the Bryant Black Sox moved into the American Legion senior state tournament championship game with a 3-1 victory.
The Razorbacks (29-11) had scored a combined 31 runs and 28 hits in their two previous games, but Taylor allowed no more than five batters to come to the plate in any one inning. Taylor retired the Razorbacks in order only twice, but Texarkana managed two hits in an inning only once.
“What a gutty pitching effort,” Bryant Manager Darren Hurt said. “And he didn’t just cruise through it. He had some situations that were really tough and he got us out of it. He found a way to get out of innings and that was huge.”
“I knew I was going to have to keep the ball low and I knew I was going to have to get ahead [in the count],” Taylor said. “No lead is safe with those guys. They hit the ball well.”
Bryant plays Paragould at 7:30 tonight and regardless of the outcome, the Black Sox will play in Tuesday’s championship game.
Taylor walked only two and he hit a batter, but only three Razorbacks advanced past second. Texarkana scored its only run in the third inning when Trevor Rucker singled and scored on Josey Langston’s double.
Taylor out dueled Texarkana ace Tim Buchanan, who gave up 13 hits but struck out seven and walked none.
Bryant scored in the first inning when Tyler Brown ripped a one-out triple to right and scored on Taylor’s sacrifice fly.
The Black Sox took the lead in the eighth. Tyler Nelson led off with a single and advanced to second on a balk. Hayden Lessenberry broke the 1-1 tie with a single to left.
“I was pumped when we got that hit,” Taylor said. “I knew I had to go back out and finish it up, but that hit really pumped me up.”
Marcus Wilson lined a double over the head of right fielder Daniel Thompson, but Lessenberry was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning.
Ozzie Hurt, however, followed with a run-scoring single to give Bryant’s its two-run advantage.
“That was huge from the standpoint that it no longer took one swing of the bat to tie the game,” Darren Hurt said. “I think it gave Jordan all the confidence he needed for the ninth inning.”
Josh Pultro and Hunter Mayall each had two hits for Bryant. Langston accounted for three of the Razorbacks’ seven hits.
ROGERS OPTIMIST 2, SYLVAN HILLS 1, 11 INNINGS
Pitching in the brutal heat did not seem to bother Zach Stewart on a sweltering Sunday afternoon.
Stewart didn’t allow a hit through seven innings and Rogers went on to claim an 11-inning victory over Sylvan Hills in an elimination game.
Austin Griffin scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 11th to advance Rogers into today’s 4:30 p.m. elimination game against Texarkana.
Forced to exit the mound in the top of the eighth inning because of a pitching limit, Stewart wound up taking a no-decision, but his performance was obviously the highlight on what was a scorcher of an afternoon.
Temperature for Sunday’s first pitch was 98 degrees. By the middle innings, the temperature had topped 100. Stewart, however, never wilted.
“That’s was just a phenomenal effort,” said Rogers Manager Tony Anderson, whose team improved to 24-9. “He had a no-hitter through seven innings but he couldn’t go any longer because of the 12-inning rule. But we couldn’t have asked any more from him today. He was on the money.”
American Legion rules do not allow any pitcher to go any longer than 12 innings in a three-day period. Stewart had pitched four innings in relief in a first-round loss to Bryant, an effort in which he allowed five hits and three earned runs.
“I really didn’t feel any different today than I did Friday,” Stewart said. “It’s just that some days you have it and some days you don’t. ... After the first inning, I didn’t really notice the heat. You can get acclimated to it.”
Stewart struck out 6, walked 4 and hit 2 batters. Sylvan Hills (15-15) managed to hit only two balls out of the infield against Stewart. The Rogers defense also turned two double plays to aid Stewart’s efforts.
Sylvan Hills pitcher Conner Eller went the distance in a losing cause. Eller allowed nine hits, but no more than one an inning until the 11th. Eller struck out 5, hit 2 batters and walked 4, three of which were intentionally given to Rogers clean-up batter Reed Brown.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh. Camdon Myers, who was hitless in his previous seven official at-bats, led off with a single. Griffin was hit by a pitch and Collin Roberts put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third.
Stewart drove in the run with a ground ball to shortstop Blake Maddox.
In the next half inning, Reed replaced Stewart on the mound.
“Of course I wanted to finish the game, but those are American Legion rules and I respect them,” Stewart said.
The no-hitter and shutout both ended in the ninth. Dillon Boone led off the ninth inning by reaching on a fielding error and Lance Hunter followed with a single to center. Hunter had both of Sylvan Hills’ two hits.
J.D. Miller’s sacrifice fly to right scored Boone and tied the game at 1.
Griffin started the winning rally on Sunday with a double to center. He advanced to third on Stewart’s one-out single.
A ground out by Tyler Greenhaw and an intentional walk to Brown loaded the bases. On the first pitch to Zach Sample, Eller’s pitch sailed low and outside allowing Griffin to race home.
Griffin got his hand on the plate just under Eller’s tag to bring the game to an end.
PARAGOULD 7-UP 8, N. LITTLE ROCK COLTS 6
Hunter Flippo was 4 for 4 with 4 singles and 3 RBI as Paragould (28-17) rallied for a victory to eliminate the host Colts (31-12).
North Little Rock held a 4-0 lead after 21/2 innings but Paragould took advantage of 11 hits and the host team’s wildness to collect the victory. The Colts walked six Paragould batters and hit another.
Eric Wilcoxson tripled and drove in two runs for Paragould. Jacob Stripling had three of North Little Rock’s nine hits.
Cameron Adkerson entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed only three hits the rest of the way to pick up the victory.
At a glance
SUNDAY’S GAMES Rogers 2, Sylvan Hills 1, 11 innings
Sylvan Hills eliminated Paragould 8, North Little Rock 6
North Little Rock eliminated Bryant 3, Texarkana 1
TODAY’S GAMES Rogers vs. Texarkana, 4:30 p.m.
Paragould vs. Bryant, 7:30 p.m.
Sports, Pages 15 on 07/30/2012