BY CLIFF SMELLEY
A leadoff triple in the bottom of the fifth inning helped Curacao edge the Bradford 8U Rookie All-Stars 9-8 in the Cal Ripken World Series championship game on Aug. 10 in Ocala.
Curacao led 2-0 after the first inning, but Bradford scored three runs in the top of the second. Chance Reed hit a leadoff double, while Easton Wiseman hit into a fielder’s choice that resulted in no outs. After Braxton Lee singled to load the bases, Bryson McCollum hit an RBI single. One out later, Sebastian Almanzar hit his own RBI single, followed by Rylan Noegel driving in a run on a ground out to put Bradford up 3-2.
Bradford broke a 3-3 tie with a run in the third. Wynnlin Lansford and Ashton Brown hit back-to-back singles. Reed reached on an error on a pop-up, with Brown being put out at second. Lee hit a two-out RBI single.
Two runs in the top of the fourth gave Bradford a 6-3 lead. With two outs and no one on, Noegel singled and scored on Trey Waldon’s triple. Waldon then scored on a Lansford single.
Curacao scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of four singles, one double, a fielder’s choice and two errors.
Bradford evened the score at 8-8 with two runs in the top of the fifth. With one out and no one on, Lee reached on an error, while McCollum singled. The runners advanced on Liam Hobbs’ sacrifice bunt. An error on a ball put into play by Almanzar scored both Lee and McCollum.
Curacao led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple. Bradford caught a pop-up for the first out before Curacao hit a single that scored what would be the winning run. Bradford got out of the inning without allowing another run, recording a double play that began with first baseman Reed catching a pop-up.
Bradford could not put any runners on in the final inning.
Lansford went 3 for 4 with an RBI, while Lee and McCollum each went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Brown and Noegel each went 2 for 4, with Noegel driving in one run.
Almanzar and Waldon each had one RBI.
The eight runs Bradford scored gave it a total of 83 for the tournament, which led all teams. Curacao scored the second-most runs with 78.
Bradford finished with a 5-4 record in the five-day tournament, which consisted of five teams overall, with Fern Creek, Ocala and Sorrento joining Bradford and Curacao.
Brown, Noegel, Reed and Wiseman were named to the All-Golden Glove Team.
Day 1
Bradford began the tournament with an 8-6 win over Fern Creek on Aug. 6.
It was 6-3 in favor of Fern Creek before Bradford scored five runs in the sixth. With two outs and no one on, Noegel singled and then scored on a Waldon triple. Brown and Reed hit back-to-back RBI singles, with Reed later scoring on a steal of home. Lansford singled and eventually scored on a steal of home.
Brown and Lansford each went 4 for 4, with Brown driving in one run. Reed and Waldon each went 3 for 4, while Hobbs and Lee each went 2 for 3. Hobbs and Reed each had one RBI.
McCollum and Noegel each had one RBI as well, with Noegel going 2 for 4. Each batter hit a double.
Bradford’s second game on Aug. 6 was a 10-6 loss to Curacao.
A two-run single by Reed tied the game at 2-0 in the third. Bradford later trailed 4-2 before scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Noegel and Waldon hit back-to-back singles before Brown hit an RBI double. Reed and Wiseman hit back-to-back triples, with Reed’s hit driving in two runs and Wiseman’s driving in one.
The 6-4 lead didn’t last long as Curacao scored six runs in the sixth.
Noegel, Reed and Wiseman each finished 3 for 3, with Reed and Wiseman each driving in one run.
Brown finished with the one RBI on his fifth-inning double.
Day 2
The second day of the tournament began for Bradford with a come-from-behind 9-7 win over Sorrento on Aug. 7.
Bradford built an early lead, going up 4-1 with a four-run second inning. Bradford loaded the bases with no outs on three straight singles hit by Wiseman, Lee and Hobbs. Almanzar hit a two-run double, followed by Hobbs scoring when McCollum hit into a fielder’s choice. Noegel drove in the final run of the inning on a single.
It was 6-3 in favor of Bradford going into the fifth. Sorrento scored four runs in the top of the inning to go up 7-6.
Bradford’s rally in the bottom of the inning began with Brown and Reed hitting back-to-back one-out singles. Brown scored on Reed’s hit, while an error allowed Reed to score. Wiseman then tripled and scored when Lee hit into a fielder’s choice.
Almanzar, Lee and Noegel each drove in two runs, with Noegel batting 2 for 3.
Brown, Hobbs and Wiseman also each went 2 for 3.
McCollum and Reed finished with one RBI each.
Bradford played Ocala in its second game on Aug. 7, losing 10-5.
Waldon’s RBI in the top of the first gave Bradford its only lead, but the team did have a big inning in the third, scoring three runs on a triple from Brown and singles from Reed and Waldon.
Waldon finished with two RBI.
Brown and Hobbs each went 3 for 3, with Brown driving in one run.
Reed and Noegel were 2 for 3 and 2 for 4, respectively, with Reed driving in one run.
McCollum hit a double and had one RBI.
Day 3
Bradford opened its day-three play on Aug. 8 with a 7-6 win over Sorrento that saw Lansford score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
Sorrento took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Bradford answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Noegel hit a leadoff single, but was put out when Waldon hit into a fielder’s choice. Waldon scored on a Lansford single before Brown hit an RBI triple. Reed drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, while Wiseman, McCollum and Hobbs hit back-to-back-to-back singles. Hobbs’ hit scored two runs.
Bradford’s opponent tied the score in the top of the second, but Brown hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.
Sorrento scored a run in the third, with the game remaining tied at 6-6 until the bottom of the seventh. Lansford hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on an error. Brown then hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Lansford to score.
Brown drove in three runs and finished 2 for 4 at the plate, while Hobbs, who went 2 for 3, drove in two runs.
Lansford and Noegel each went 3 for 4, with Lansford driving in a run.
Reed finished with one RBI, while Wiseman batted 2 for 3.
Bradford built a big lead early in its second game of the day, defeating Fern Creek 9-3.
A four-run first inning began with Noegel hitting a leadoff single. With one out, Lansford, Brown and Reed all singled, with Reed’s hit scoring a run. Wiseman then hit a bases-loaded double that scored all three runners.
Bradford scored three runs in the second to go up 7-1. With one runner on with two outs, Waldon and Lansford hit singles, with Noegel scoring on Lansford’s hit. Brown then hit an RBI double.
A two-run sixth inning began with Bradford putting two runners on, but Fern Creek turned a double play. With one runner (Lee) on, Noegel hit an RBI double, followed by Waldon hitting an RBI single.
Wiseman finished with three RBI, while Lansford, who went 3 for 4, had two.
Brown and Lee were each 2 for 3, with Brown driving in a run.
Noegel and Waldon each went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Reed finished with one RBI.
Day 4
Bradford’s fourth day began with an 11-10 loss to Curacao in which Curacao scored seven runs in the final two innings.
A five-run second inning put Bradford up 6-0. Hobbs and Almanzar reached on errors. With two outs, Waldon hit a two-run triple and later scored himself on an error. Lansford and Brown singled and doubled, respectively, before both scored on a Reed single.
Bradford took a 10-4 lead with a four-run fourth. Waldon, Lansford and Brown all singled to load the bases. Reed hit an RBI single, while another run scored when Wiseman reached on a fielder’s choice. Lee singled to load the bases again before two runs scored when Hobbs hit into a fielder’s choice.
Curacao scored five runs in the fifth on five singles, a double and two sacrifice flies. The team hit four straight singles in scoring two runs in the sixth.
Reed and Waldon each went 3 for 4, with Reed driving in three runs and Waldon driving in two.
Hobbs, like Waldon, had two RBI.
Brown went 4 for 4 with an RBI, while Lee was 3 for 4.
Lansford finished 2 for 3, while Wiseman had one RBI.
Bradford bounced back from the loss with a 21-6 win over Fern Creek.
It was only a two-run game when Bradford scored 13 runs in the final two innings.
Bradford took advantage of two errors and a Reed ground out to score three runs in the first. An error and a ground out scored two runs in the second, while a three-run third saw Wiseman hit a two-run triple and Lee hit an RBI single.
It was an 8-6 game when Bradford scored three in the fifth to go up 11-6. Brown hit a leadoff single, advanced on Reed’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a Wiseman ground out. Lee reached on an error, followed by Hobbs reaching on a single. Both runners scored on an Almanzar double.
Bradford continued to pull away with a 10-run sixth. Noegel hit a leadoff single and scored when Waldon reached on an error. Lansford hit an RBI single, while Brown hit an RBI triple. Bradford got four straight singles from Wiseman, Lee, Hobbs and Almanzar, with runs scoring on the hits by Wiseman, Hobbs and Almanzar. McCollum then hit a two-run triple, followed by Noegel hitting an RBI single. Waldon reached on an error, which allowed the final run to score.
Wiseman went 3 for 4 with four RBI, while Almanzar was 3 for 4 with three RBI. McCollum, who went 2 for 4, had two RBI.
Lansford and Noegel each went 4 for 5 with an RBI, while Hobbs and Lee were each 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Brown went 2 for 5 with an RBI.
