AMERICAN LEGION STATE TOURNAMENT

39 runs in 2 games put Bryant on roll

Paragould’s Layne Ditto leaps off second base after forcing out Jacksonville Tyson Flowers in Paragould’s 11-1 victory Saturday in the American Legion AAA state tournament in Conway. Ditto hit for the cycle in the victory.
Paragould’s Layne Ditto leaps off second base after forcing out Jacksonville Tyson Flowers in Paragould’s 11-1 victory Saturday in the American Legion AAA state tournament in Conway. Ditto hit for the cycle in the victory.

CONWAY -- Jordan Gentry is a designated hitter for a reason.

Gentry went 4 for 5 and drove in three runs for the Bryant BlackSox in their 12-2 second-round victory over the Blytheville Casons during the American Legion AAA state tournament at Hendrix College on Saturday.

"He's been doing that all summer," Bryant Manager Darren Hurt said of Gentry. "The guy just goes up there and gets hits. It's not always the prettiest thing, but he gets a lot of hits and he's done it for us in huge situations all summer."

Bryant advances to tonight's semifinals and will play either Fort Smith or Searcy at 7 p.m. at Hendrix. Blytheville will play Rogers at 10 a.m. at Central Arkansas' Bear Stadium in an elimination game.

Bryant's hitting onslaught continued for a second day. The Sox have scored 39 runs and produced 40 hits in their first two games of the 16-team, double-elimination tournament. A day after getting 27 runs and 22 hits against Conway, the Sox collected 18 hits -- 15 singles, 3 doubles -- against Blytheville. All nine Bryant starters picked up at least one hit.

"Every time, we're just trying to get base runners on and then move them over," Gentry said. "That's what we like to do."

Austin Kelly, who drove in four runs Friday, went 3 for 5 with three singles. Seth Tucker singled, doubled and drove in three runs. Aaron Orender, Garrett Misenheimer and Jake East also had two hits.

Blytheville got nine hits against three Bryant pitchers. Outfielders Jamal Washington and Andrew Scott both came up with two singles for the Casons. Blytheville picked up its runs on a single by Nieko Sorrentino and a bases-loaded walk to Ashton Kennedy.

Bryant starter Beaux Bonvillain struck out 6 and walked 2 in 5 scoreless innings while throwing 96 pitches.

Five of Bryant's runs came with two outs, which left Hurt feeling good about his team.

In elimination games Saturday, Dakota Stafford went 2 for 4 with a home run as the Little Rock Vipers handed Batesville an 11-0 loss. Winning pitcher Tucker Mann struck out eight. ... A day after being no hit, Conway had 13 hits in a 15-10 victory over Jonesboro. Matt Sweere had two doubles and Cody Holmes also had two hits for Conway. ... Mackenzie Seats belted a home run and had a two-run triple in the seventh inning, giving North Little Rock the lead for good in a 17-7 victory over Russellville. Chance Harger had three hits and drove in three runs for North Little Rock while Tucker Sparks had two hits and two RBI. ... Colin McWhorter drove in a run in the eighth inning to give Rogers a 10-9 victory over Benton. Andy McGlyn had a two-run double for Rogers. For Benton, Brinson Cornwell had three singles and three RBI, while Grant Rambo collected two hits and two RBI.

In other winners bracket games, Blake Hall went 3 for 5 with an RBI as Texarkana earned a 10-2 victory over Mountain Home. Winning pitcher Patrick Flanagan gave up two first-inning runs but settled down for a five-hit effort in 72/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Brody Ninemire and Ryan Pevril each drove in runs for Mountain Home. Texarkana scored five runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead for good. ... Layne Ditto hit for the cycle as Paragould routed Jacksonville 11-1. Ditto was 4 for 4 with a walk and 3 RBI. Paragould hit three home runs, getting a two-run blast from Christian Dean and one from Ty Gordon. Winning pitcher Grant Pritchard struck out four. ... Winning pitcher Blaise Lomon tossed a five-hitter in an eight-inning complete game victory as Fort Smith whipped Searcy 12-2. Lomon struck out three to send Fort Smith to tonight's semifinal against Bryant. Damon Deesert went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI to lead Fort Smith at the plate.

Sports on 07/17/2016

Upcoming Events