Hornets win Billy Bock tournament
MARTIN COUCH Sports editor

BRYANT HORNETS KEVIN NAGLE PHOTO The Bryant Hornets won the annual Billy Bock Classic baseball tournament at Taylor Field in Pine Bluff. The Hornets improved to 10-1 overall and will be in action again March 31.

Terry Harper was pleased to remember his old friend Billy Bock.

Bock, who passed away in 2003, was one of the most-respected high school coaches in the state. He coached the Pine Bluff Zebras to state championships and built a baseball program that rivaled any other in Arkansas.

Bock was coaching when Harper played for the Bryant Hornets under Joe Calhoun.

"Anything with Billy's name on it is special to me," Harper said. "He was coaching when I was a player and, in my early years of coaching, I was against him. Any time I had any involvement with him, it was something special."

Bryant won the annual Billy Bock Classic tournament at Taylor Field in Pine Bluff by defeating Tuttle, Okla., 8-4 on Saturday night. That made it more special for Harper, too.

"We played a good team in a good tournament and to win it is even more special," Harper said.

The Hornets defeated Cabot 11-1 and White Hall 10-0 to make the championship round of the Classic. The tournament began at Bryant on Thursday before moving to Taylor Field on Friday and Saturday.

"I thought Thursday and Friday, especially Thursday, we played really well," Harper said. "We pitched well, played good defense and hit the ball."

The Hornets took a 3-0 lead on Cabot in the bottom of the first inning when Jake Jackson led off with a double to left-center field and Trent Daniel singled to left behind him. After Daniel was caught in a rundown, Tyler Sawyer walked and Cody Walker singled in Jackson. With two outs, Kaleb Jobe walked to load the bases, and Jordan Knight came through with a two-run single to right field.

Walker singled to right field in the bottom of the third inning and David Guarno hit the first of two two-run homers in the game. Guarno hit three home runs in the tournament.

Cabot scored in the top of the fourth, but the Hornets put the game away in the bottom of the fifth with six runs.

BRYANT HORNETS KEVIN NAGLE PHOTOS Bryant catcher Kaleb Jobe talks with pitcher Trent Daniel during the Hornets game at Conway, above left. Above right, Bryant head coach Terry Harper talks with the Billy Bock tournament.

Walker led off with a walk and advanced on an error. Guarno blasted his second two-run homer over the fence in left. Jobe reached on a passed ball, Knight beat out an infield single and Drew Ransdell was safe when Jobe was forced at third. Justin Blankenship was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, then Jackson walked to bring in Knight. Daniel singled in two runs and Sawyer singled up the middle to score Jackson to make it 11-1.

Jobe went all the way for the Hornets, allowing six hits, fanning eight, walking one and hitting a batter. Defense like Guarno throwing out a White Hall runner at the plate kept the Bulldogs off the board.

The Hornets took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Daniel reached on an error that scored Jackson.

Jackson homered in the bottom of the third and Randell hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-0.

HOME PLATED KEVIN NAGLE PHOTOS Bryant's Jordan Knight slides into home against the Tuttle, Okla., team.

The Hornets added seven runs in the sixth inning to end the game. Walker led off, reaching on an error, then he scored on a Knight sacrifice fly to left. An overthrow error by the White Hall catcher also allowed Guarno to score.

Blankenship, running for Jobe, scored on a wild pitch, and then Jackson singled in Nathan Hines and Anthony Raby.

Guarno ended the game with a walk-off two-run single to left field.

"We struggled on Friday early, but we kept battling against White Hall," Harper said. "Our defense was there, too, and the same for our pitching."

The Hornets took a 1-0 lead on the Tuttle Tigers in the championship game when Jackson walked and scored on a Guarno single to right-center field. Tuttle came back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.

Bryant threatened in the top of the second when Knight reached on an error and tried on a passed ball. He was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. The Hornets took the lead in the top of the third 3-2 when Jackson walked again. He stole second base and scored when Walker singled up the middle with two outs. Guarno doubled to the gap in left-center to score Walker.

SAFE KEVIN NAGLE PHOTOS Bryant's Jake Jackson races home on a passed ball against Cabot, above. Below left, Bryant ace pitcher Trent Daniel throws against Tuttle, Okla., in the championship game of the Billy Bock Classic in Pine Bluff. Below right, Jake Jackson gets motoring for a stolen base in the championship game.

The Hornets added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning when Walker singled to right with two outs. Guarno followed with a single to right and Jobe walked. Walker scored on a passed ball and Guarno scored when Knight reached on an error.

Bryant put the game away in the top of the seventh with three runs that included another tworun homer from Guarno. Jobe walked and his pinch runner scored when Brady Butler hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Tuttle came back with two runs in the bottom of the seven, but the game came to an end when a Tigers runner was thrown out at third base on a two-run single to left.

Daniel was the winning pitcher for the tournament. Jackson, Guarno, Daniel, Sawyer and Walker were named to the alltournament team.

"Our pitching was there," Harper said. "It has been the most stable thing we've had in the last three games. We have to make sure that it stays consistent. Defensively we have to be there, too. We weren't as sharp behind Daniel as we could have been, but he's a gamer. When a couple of things didn't go his way, he put the team on his shoulders and got the job done."

Daniel had 15 strikeouts against Tuttle and came off a 16-strikeout performance in a 3-1 7A-Central Conference victory at Conway.

Sawyer got the save, while Daniel, Knight and Ransdell each had two hits. Bryant had 10 hits against Conway.

"It doesn't matter who we play, we want to play the way we play," Harper said. "Whether it's the Yankees, Tuttle or whoever it might be, we want to play our best game with our pitching, hitting and defense. We played our game and to beat the number one 4A team in Oklahoma, well, that's a plus."

Bryant (10-1) hosts the Benton Panthers (13-2) on March 31.