BRYANT, Ark. - The Texarkana Razorbacks built a hefty lead and then held off a late surge by Brinkley to remain alive in the American Legion Arkansas Senior state baseball tournament.
The Hogs, who finished with a 10-4 victory over the Patriots, advances to play Little Rock at 3 p.m. in Sheridan today.
Pitching by platoon, the Hogs sent six different hurlers to the mound against Brinkley. Matt Hall picked up the win as the first reliever. Five of the six pitchers are available again today.
"We only burned on pitcher today, and I just didn't keep an eye on the pitch count for him," Razorback manager Matt Riddle said. "All in all, we got to actually play our game, which is bunting and running. It helped us out a lot to get to play our game."
Bryson Connell was 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs scored to lead Texarkana's 8-hit attack.
The Razorbacks got the offense going early, scoring twice in the first and three more in the second.
Roc Hawthorne walked on four pitches to start the game, and Christian Vicknair bunted for a hit. Connell also had a bunt single to load the bases, and Kade Garmany bunted in a run. Another run scored on a groundout.
Silas Cowgill led off Texarkana's second inning with an infield hit, and a wild pitch moved him to third. A fielder's choice scored Cowgill, and a throwing error made it 4-0.
Vicknair sac-bunted in the third run of the inning.
Garmany walked to start the third for the Razorbacks, and Peyton Lewis' sac fly gave Texarkana a 6-0 lead.
Hawthorne delivered a soft liner to center to plate a run in the fourth inning.
A bunt and walk in the sixth preceded an error to make it 8-0. After two outs, Connell tripled to deep center to score a run, and he came home on a balk for a 10-0 lead.
With two outs, Brinkley got a pair of hits, and back-to-back errors each scored a run to end the run-rule chance and send the game into the seventh frame.
The Patriots tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on Cooper Roberts' bases-loaded single to left, but the third out was recorded at third base to end the game.
"We'll just be ready to play ball against Little Rock, and try to get into the same style of game we did today," Riddle said. "We need to get the sticks going a little bit better, but if we continue to get runners on, push it on the bases and keep bunting, it's a tough combo to handle."
Should Texarkana win the 3 p.m. game, it will play another game today, as well.