Sports

Bryant’s Daniel strikes out 15 to help Hornets take Bock Classic

By Jeremy Muck/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, March 22, 2008 11:18 PM CDT

Billy Bock would have been proud of Trent Daniel’s performance Saturday night.

Daniel struck out 15 in Bryant’s 8-4 victory over Tuttle, Okla. in the championship game of the Billy Bock Classic at Taylor Field Saturday night.

The Bock Classic, named in honor of the late Pine Bluff baseball coach, wrapped up on Saturday with the Hornets taking home the championship trophy. Bryant (9-1) defeated Cabot, White Hall, and Tuttle to win the Bock Classic, which kicked off on Thursday and culminated with Saturday’s championship game.

“I thought, especially on Thursday and Friday, that we played really well,” Bryant head coach Tommy Harper said. “We pitched well and we played some good defense. We hit the ball well. (Friday night), we struggled early on with White Hall and we just kept battling and did a pretty good job. Defense and pitching was there (Friday night) too and the same thing tonight, the pitching was there. Our pitching has been the most stable thing we’ve done the last three games. Hitting’s been the next thing, then defense. Defense and pitching, we need to make sure that’s a constant, because hitting can stop at any moment. Pitching and defense is what we’ve stressed.”

Harper didn’t hide his feelings for the late Pine Bluff baseball legend after the championship game.

“We played a good team in a good tournament,” Harper said. “Anything with Billy Bock’s name on it is special to me. I grew up playing against him. In my early years of coaching, we coached against each other. So anything that he has any involvement in, it’s something special. It’s something special to us. To be able to win it makes it even more special.”

Daniel pitched 6.2 innings and gave up three earned runs (four runs) Saturday night. He gave up an earned run (two runs) in the top of the first inning, but settled down after the initial frame. The senior left-hander gave up four hits and walked four, but it was his 15 strikeouts that helped lead Bryant to the Bock Classic title. Daniel pitched 124 pitches Saturday night.

David Guarno was 4-for-4 Saturday night with a two-run home run and a double. He drove in four runs and scored a run. Cody Walker was 3-for-4 with a RBI double. Walker and Guarno hit fourth and fifth in Bryant’s lineup, respectively, and the two Hornets combined to hit 7-for-8 Saturday night.

Guarno put Bryant on the board first with a RBI single that drove in Jake Jackson in the top of the first inning. Tuttle answered with two runs in the bottom of the first as Daniel’s wild pitch allowed Chris Williams to score to tie the game at 1-1. Trent Scrivner drove in Cory Hawk with a base hit to give Tuttle a 2-1 lead.

Bryant scored twice in the top of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. Walker and Guarno had back-to-back RBI doubles in the third. Walker scored on Guarno’s double.

In the top of the fifth inning, Bryant scored two runs after two outs. Walker and Guarno got things going once again for Bryant with back-to-back singles. Kaleb Jobe, who pitched a complete game shutout against White Hall Friday night, walked to load the bases for Jordan Knight. On a 2-2 count, Hawk’s wild pitch allowed Walker to score, which increased the Bryant lead to 4-2. Knight then got on base thanks to an error by Kyle Ebert that scored Guarno to make it 5-2 Bryant. Tuttle committed four errors Saturday night.

Bryant broke the game open in the top of the seventh inning with three runs. For the third time Saturday night, it was the duo of Walker and Guarno that got things started for Bryant. Walker got on base with a single. Guarno then hit a two-run home run off of Grant Glasser that hit the left field scoreboard to give Bryant a 7-2 lead. Justin Blankenship’s sacrifice fly allowed Jobe to score the final run of the night for Bryant.

Rafe Coker’s two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning pulled Tuttle to within four runs at 8-4, but Ebert was thrown out at third base to end the game.

Rance Pride picked up the loss for Tuttle, going three innings and giving up four runs on three hits. Pride walked four and struck out four Saturday night.

Tuttle made the longest trip of the eight-team contingent at the Bock Classic. The Tigers came in as the top team from Class 4A in the state of Oklahoma.

“It’s about six and a half hours for us,” Tuttle head coach Shawn Streater said of his team’s trip from Oklahoma to southeast Arkansas. “I was concerned coming this far how we would respond. I thought we responded well the first two days. Today wasn’t quite so well. On a whole, we played pretty well. We would have liked to play better in the championship and made it a better game, but that’s how it works out when you come up against a good pitcher.”

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