Riley Orr, Texarkana’s No. 9 hitter in the batting order, lined a bases-loaded single to right field in the eighth inning to help the Razorbacks overcome a two-run deficit for a 6-5 victory over the Bryant BlackSox in Saturday’s action of the American Legion Mid-South Regional at Gary Hogan Field.
Texarkana entered the eighth inning trailing its rival 5-3, but two singles and a walk set the stage for Orr, who sent a one-strike pitch to right. Orr was credited with two RBI, and when the ball got by outfielder Austin Kelly for an error, the eventual game-winning run scored.
“Those games are never going to fail,” Razorback Manager Dane Peavy said. “When it gets down to intensity, no one is going to give up. You’re not going to see any lopsided games this deep in the tournament; everybody here remaining wants the championship and they’re going to fight tooth and nail.”
Texarkana (37-4) will play Sedalia, Mo., at 2 p.m. today in an elimination game. Bryant (31-9) will play the winner approximately 45 minutes after the completion of the first game.
“We gave up our advantage a little bit,” Bryant Coach Darren Hurt said. “This was a tough one. The key will be how will we recover from it. We had a two-run lead with four outs to go and having to be beat twice [on Sunday]. We can either move on and decide to come out here and give it all we’ve got or we can come out here flat and have the same thing happen to us that happened tonight.”
The winner of the Mid-South Regional will advance to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C., which begins Thursday. The Mid-South Regional winner, however, will not play until Friday.
It was the third consecutive victory for Texarkana over the BlackSox, who suffered two losses to the Razorbacks in the Arkansas state tournament after having won the winners’ bracket finals of that tournament. The Razorbacks have beaten Bryant four of six times this season.
Hunter Lewis, the second of three Razorbacks’ pitchers, picked up the victory of starter Beau Burson. Logan Vidrine collected the save. Seth Tucker, who had the save in Friday’s victory over Sedalia, took the loss.
“Hunter did a great job for us,” Peavy said. “I know he walked a couple early, but he really got some big outs for us. Beau did a great job starting. It was an all-around maximum effort from everybody, and I’m proud of those guys.”
The game featured four lead changes, the last of which came in the Texarkana eighth.
Catcher Will Smith singled to start the eighth. Two outs later, designed hitter Parker Ribble singled and Vidrine drew a walk to load the bases.
After looking at a strike, Orr delivered the game-winner and his second and third RBI of the game.
Ribble and Blake Hall each had two hits for Texarkana. Jordan Gentry, Jake East and Alex Shurtleff all had two hits for Bryant, which finished with a 10-9 advantage in hits.
Vidrine pitched the final two innings and faced the minimum six batters. He walked Dylan Hurt with one out in the ninth but got Garrett Misenheimer to ground into a double play to end the game.
Bryant lost despite a fine pitching effort from Bryant reliever Aaron Orender.
Orender started the game as the BlackSox designated hitter but came on in relief of starter Michael Ogelsby with two outs in the fourth inning. He wound up giving up 3 hits and 2 walks in 4 1/3 innings.
“Our pitching has been great the whole tournament,” Hurt said. “Orender came in and did a heckuva job. He kept us right there.”
Texarkana had taken a 3-1 lead in the fourth on the strength of three singles, a sacrifice fly designated hitter Parker Ribble and a RBI ground out by Orr.
Burson limited Bryant to five hits and a run through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth. Right fielder Austin Kelly drew a one-out walk and moved to third on first baseman Jordan Gentry’s double.
Shortstop Jake East cut Texarkana’s lead to 3-2 with a single and second baseman Seth Tucker tied the game with a sacrifice bunt. Orender broke the tie with a double. Bryant added another run later in the inning when Dylan Hurt drew a bases-loaded walk.
Bryant scored first when Gentry’s single scored Misenheimer in the first inning. Texarkana tied it in the top of the second on Vidrine’s fielder’s choice.
SEDALIA, MO., 5,
LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS 4
Sedalia reliever Corbin Mertgen limited League City to four hits during the final six innings as the Missouri state champions rallied for a victory to advance to today’s championship round.
Texas led 3-1 heading into the sixth inning, but Sedalia used a double by shortstop Gavin Jones, a single by third baseman Chase Plymell and two wild pitches to take the lead for good.
Mertgen, who came into game in the fourth inning, struck out one and walked two. He gave up an unearned run in the ninth, but closed out the contest by getting back-to-back ground outs.
Sedalia took a 1-0 lead on Dom Zerille’s first-inning single.
League City picked up six hits in the first inning off Sedalia starter Gehrig Taylor, including a two-run home run to right by catcher Harrison Dinicola. Shortstop Garrett Poston also drove in a run in the inning, but the Texas team left the bases loaded and did not score again until the ninth.
League City starting pitcher Jason Jaekel held Sedalia to four hits through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up a lead-off walk to Steven Bradbury, a double to Jones and a run-scoring single to Plymell. Both Jones and Plymell would later score on wild pitches by Jaekel.
Sedalia scored an insurance run in the ninth. Jake Kindle singled to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Baxter Mays’ two-out double to center increased Sedalia’s lead to 5-3.
League City’s Jordan Gunter reached on a one-out double in the ninth, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by John Snider.
TEXARKANA 6, BRYANT 5
Sports on 08/07/2016