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Laboring on Labor Day

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Baseball on Broadway

Laboring on Labor Day

Travs still in contention for postseason play, Matt Brash named Pitcher of the Week, Grant Black gets his first win of the season, plus stats, scores and so much more

Jeremy Peppas
Sep 6, 2021
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Laboring on Labor Day

www.arkansasnewsroom.com

Welcome to Baseball on Broadway, a weekly look at the Arkansas Travelers that's published on Monday. This newsletter is extra coverage for readers of ArkansasNewsroom.com and, remember …

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Tickets to Arkansas Travelers baseball games at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock can be purchased by clicking here.

It wasn’t the ending everyone hoped for.

After a long night of baseball last Friday, the Travs had the chance for a win at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Against Wichita, the Travs had jumped out early, 4-0, before the game was tied and sent into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Wichita got the go-ahead run, 6-5, but the Travs had a chance in the bottom of the inning, and they did just that, getting the bases loaded, with two outs, and up to bat was Julio Rodriguez, who was working on a big night.

Baseball’s No. 2 prospect had four hits, with a double and two stolen bases, along with the kind of play that only emphasized his talent.

But baseball, baseball, has a way of humbling even the best as the game ended with Rodriguez striking out.

It was still a good week for the Travs as the team went 4-2 in the series and are still in contention for postseason play.

The format this year is different as the League announced that “postseason will consist of two teams per league” and the pair of teams, “will be decided for each league (regardless of division) based on the best regular season winning percentage.”

Wichita leads the league at 62-46 and .574 but this is where it gets interesting. Frisco (59-47) at .557, while the Travs (59-49) are third at .546. And then it gets really tight as Tulsa (58-50) is .537 and Northwest Arkansas (57-50) is at .533.

There’s 12 games remaining in the regular season and this week things should start getting sorted out as Northwest Arkansas will be at Wichita, while the Travs travel to a suddenly surging Springfield. The S-Cards are last in the league standings but the pitching rotation there has gotten a lift with Dakota Hudson down from St. Louis for injury rehab starts. Newport’s Grant Black, also got his first career win last week for Springfield. Fourth place Tulsa (58-5 goes to Amarillo (51-56) for six games as five teams are all in the hunt for the top two spots.

The following and final week of the regular season has the Travs at Wichita in a six-game series, while Northwest Arkansas closes at Springfield, Frisco gets Amarillo and Tulsa has Midland in the last series.

Postseason will be a single, best-of-five series that starts on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Brash named Pitcher of the Week

Twitter avatar for @MsPlayerDev
Mariners Player Development @MsPlayerDev
History for @ARTravs! Matt Brash was perfect into the seventh, then @Nate_Fish18 and Dayeison Arias brought it home for the combined no-no 🙌 #SeaUsRise
4:58 PM ∙ Sep 3, 2021
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Matt Brash, fresh off a combined no-hitter against Wichita was named Pitcher of the Week for the Double-A Central, aka Texas League. Brash, who had a perfect game going in the win, is now 3-1 on the season for the Travs is considered one of the best young pitching prospects in baseball.

Individual leaders

  • Jake Scheiner goes to No. 16 in hitting

  • No Trav is listed among the league’s top pitchers, based on .8 innings pitched per game

Transactions

  • Sept. 5: Arkansas Travelers placed RHP Levi Stoudt on the 7-day injured list.

  • Sept. 5: RHP Tyler Driver assigned to Arkansas Travelers from Everett AquaSox.

Players of the Week

  • Michael Busch - Tulsa and Matt Brash - Arkansas

The scores

  • Tuesday: Wichita 10, Travs 7

  • Wednesday: Travs 4, Wichita 3

  • Thursday: Travs 6, Wichita 0

  • Friday: Wichita 6, Travs 5 (10)

  • Saturday: Travs 1, Wichita 0

  • Sunday: Travs 2, Wichita 1

The standings

Team … Record … Percentage … Games Back … Next Up

  • Wichita ...62-46 ... .574 ... - ... Plays Northwest Arkansas

  • Frisco ... 59-47 ... .557 ... 2.0 ... Plays San Antonio

  • Travs ... 59-49 ... .546 ... 3.0 ... At Springfield

  • Tulsa ... 58-50 ... .537 ... 4.0 ... At Amarillo

  • Northwest Arkansas ... 57-50 ... .533 ... 4.5 ... At Wichita

  • Midland ... 53-55 ... .491 ... 9.0 ... At Corpus Christi

  • Amarillo ... 51-56 ... .477 ... 10.5 ... Plays Tulsa

  • San Antonio ... 51-57 ... .472 ... 11.0 ... At Frisco

  • Corpus Christi ... 48-60 ... .444 ... 14.0 ... Plays Midland

  • Springfield ... 40-68 ... .370 ... 22.0 ... Plays Travs

    The format for the 2021 Postseason will consist of two teams per league in a single best-of-5 series (beginning Sept. 21). The two playoff participants will be decided for each league (regardless of division) based on the best regular season winning percentage.

Grant Black’s Corner

About Grant Black’s Corner: This is a weekly look at current Minor-League players with Arkansas roots. Have an addition to this list? Email us at arkansas@substack.com or leave a comment on the post.

September was a big month for Newport's Grant Black as he got his first professional win against Tulsa on Sept. 1.

Black got the start and pitched the first five innings. He gave up three runs and eight hits, but it didn’t matter as the S-Cards were up, 8-3 and went on to win, 9-3.

The game didn’t help his ERA, much, as it is 5.56 on the season, but he now had 60 strikeouts on 57 innings.

Grant Black

Black is expected to stay in the rotation this week with the Travs in town. Joining him is Dakota Hudson, down from St. Louis, for injury rehab as the S-Cards have been hot in September, winning the first three games of the month, before losing on Saturday and Sunday.

Many thanks to Arkansas high school baseball expert Kevin Bohannon for his help in compiling this list. You can catch him on the radio at 103.7 The Buzz as he's the station’s high school insider. He is also the co-host of The Hawg Talk podcast, which can be listened to here. He’s also on Twitter, @CoachKBo_HTP, so give him a follow. 

Others on the Corner

Note: Click the player’s name to get current stats.

  • Luke Bandy, Springdale: Was released. He previously played in the Boston Red Sox farm system and @Luke_Bandy

  • Gray Fenter, West Memphis: Bowie Baysox, Double-A Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and @Bear_Fenter

  • Logan Gragg, Prairie Grove: Peoria Chiefs, High-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and @GraggLogan23

  • William Hancock, Little Rock Catholic:  Quad Cities River Bandits, the High-A Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals

  • Tink Hence, Watson Chapel: GCL Cardinals, the Rookie Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and @HenceTink3

  • Blaine Knight, Bryant: Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

  • Grant Koch, Fayetteville: Altoona Curve, the Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates

  • Evan Lee, Bryant:  Wilmington Blue Rocks, the High-A Affiliate of the Washington Nationals and @Evan_Leeeee

  • Casey Martin, Lonoke: Clearwater Threshers, the Low-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and @cmartin15_

  • Jake Reindl, Fayetteville: Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Low-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and @jreindl24

  • Cody Scroggins, Bentonville: Greenville Drive, the High-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and @cody_scroggins

  • Gavin Stone, Riverside High School (Lake City): Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Low-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers and @gavinstone02

  • Nick Starr, Conway: Hickory Crawdads, the High-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers and @nickstarr6

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Schedule, tickets and promotions

On deck this week

AWAY GAMES | Tuesday at Springfield; Wednesday at Springfield; Thursday at Springfield; Friday at Springfield; Saturday at Springfield; Sunday at Springfield

Next week

AWAY GAMES | Tuesday, Sept. 14: at Wichita; Wednesday, Sept. 15: at Wichita; Thursday, Sept. 16: at Wichita; Friday, Sept. 17: at Wichita; Saturday, Sept. 18: at Wichita and Sunday, Sept. 19: at Wichita

The Week After

Post-season play

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Laboring on Labor Day

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