After suffering their worst loss of the season in the opening round of the Senior American Legion State Tournament, a 10-1 defeat to Fort Smith Sportsman on Friday, the Bryant Black Sox turned around to beat the El Dorado Oilers 9-3 Saturday in a loser’s bracket game at Warriors Field in Conway.
Bryant’s Scott Schmidt started and pitched 4.2 innings of shutout baseball, lifted in the bottom of the fifth inning after 45 pitches so he would be available for a game Monday should the Black Sox advance, scattering just three hits and striking out three without walking a batter.
“That’s what he does and that’s why we went with him there because we knew we could get two starts out of him,” Black Sox Coach Darren Hurt said. “He’s a guy that can throw 40 something pitches and you look up and you’re through four or five innings. That’s what he’s done all season because he just throws so many strikes.”
The Black Sox (37-9-2) will now play the loser between Russellville and Sheridan, which battled it out in winner’s bracket action Saturday night, today at 1 p.m. Should Bryant win that contest, the Black Sox play again at 8 p.m. at Warriors Field for a shot to make Monday’s 5 p.m. loser’s bracket final. Bryant would have to beat the winner’s bracket champion twice, starting with a 7:30 p.m. Monday game for a shot at the winner-take-all final on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Should the Black Sox lose at all before Monday’s 7:30 game, their season is over.