What probably should have been a Bryant Black Sox blowout in the first round of the Mid-South Regional at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock, turned into a 1-run squeaker Wednesday against the Kansas senior American Legion champion Ottawa Post 60 Arrows.
The Black Sox left 17 men on base, most of them in the first five innings, but starting pitcher Alex Shurtleff got out of a jam in the seventh inning and Boston Heil came in and shut the door for the 3-2 win and tonight’s date with the Oklahoma state champions Ada Braves at 6:30 p.m. in Little Rock.
Shurtleff struck out 12 Arrows on Wednesday, giving up two runs on five hits, four coming in the seventh, and walked two in 7.0 innings for the win.
“He was really good,” Bryant Coach Darren Hurt said. “Even the inning they scored a couple runs, we had some opportunities there. The dink hit there. They squared him up a couple times, but he was good, really good.”
Heil struck out three in 2.0 perfect innings of relief for the save.
“Like he’s done all year in tight spots,” Hurt said of Heil. “That’s one of the few times lately that he’s actually gotten to start an inning. We typically bring him out of the pen and he’s in the stretch starting out. He actually got to throw a windup and he’s done it for us all year. He goes in and gets people out. They don’t know why they’re out, but they’re out.