The Benton Courier

Sox sweep Cabot in DH

By Tony Lenahan tlenahan@bentoncourier.com

CABOT – After finishing 4-2 at a tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, last weekend, the Bryant Black Sox 18U senior American Legion squad swept two from the Cabot RailCats in a doubleheader this past Wednesday in Cabot. The Black Sox won the first game 9-2 before handling the RailCats 10-5 in the nightcap to improve to19-6 overall on the season.

The Black Sox scored early and often in the second game of the doubleheader, posting five runs in the top of the first to take control. Leadoff man Logan White reached on a two-base error and went to third on a Ryan Riggs single. Both runners would score when Colby Morrow doubled to left field for the early 2-0 lead. After a strikeout, Turner Seelinger switched places with Morrow with an RBI double of his own for the threerun lead. Garrett Wilson reached on an error before Gavin Burton doubled in courtesy runner Drew Hatman, with Cade Parker capping the scoring in the first with an RBI single for the 5-0 lead after one.

Riggs would walk to start the top of the second and later scored on Connor Martin’s fielder’s choice RBI to make it a 6-0 game after two, and the

Sox added three more in the third on Morrow’s RBI single and Seelinger’s 2-run double for the 9-0 lead after three.

Courtesy runner Jaxon Ham would score Bryant’s final run in the fourth on Riggs’ sacrifice fly to

There were some signature serves, at up to

118 mph. There was some turn-back-the-clock court coverage. There were powerful forehands and swinging volleys and, at one juncture, back-to-back backhand return winners of the sort she’d hit in her prime. There were the excited yells and raised fists after some of her most effective shots. And there were her mother, Oracene Price, and older sister, Venus, up in the guest box, just like old times.

“It definitely makes me want to hit the practice courts because,” Williams said, “when you’re playing not bad and you’re so close ... I feel like that it’s actually kind of like, ‘OK, Serena, you can do this if you want.’”

Here’s how tight it was: Williams twice was two points from victory. She actually collected more total points, 124-119. She determined the outcome of most exchanges, with more than twice as many winners as Tan, 61-29, but also nearly twice as many unforced errors, 54-28.

In her prime, this result would have been disappointing as can be, considering the stage and the opponent. She is not in her prime, of course.

The 24-year-old Tan said afterward she didn’t truly believe she could win until right before what would become the final point. Tan, making her Wimbledon debut and appearing in only her seventh Grand Slam match, grew up watching Williams on TV.

“She’s a legend,” said Tan, who pulled out of doubles on Wednesday because of an injured thigh. “I was scared when I was on the court — but really happy to be there.”

So, it seems, was Williams. The spectators, too. She surprisingly returned to the tour this month at a smaller grasscourt tournament, but only for doubles, and only for two matches, for a hint of preparation.

Asked whether she will play again, Williams was noncommittal.

“That’s a question I can’t answer,” she said. “I don’t know . ... Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up?”

Asked specifically about the U.S. Open, which she has won six times and begins on Aug. 29, Williams said: “There’s definitely lots of motivation to get better and to play at home.”

At her post-match news conference, Williams wore

a T-shirt that read “Be the Game Changer.”

A reporter wanted to know how Williams thinks that phrase reflects her.

“Don’t be afraid to be different. Don’t be afraid to stand out. Yeah, I think that’s been me. I love changing the game. I think that’s something that I never kind of set out to do, and then somehow I did it,” she said. “Somehow

I’m Serena. That’s pretty awesome.”

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2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

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