In what is becoming a fairly common occurrence, the Brewton 13-year-old all-star team won its third consecutive district championship Monday, defeating Atmore 8-0 in the championship game at T.R. Miller’s high school baseball field. In doing so, the 13s advanced as the district champion to the Babe Ruth State Tournament this weekend in Andalusia. But it wasn’t easy as Atmore forced a second and deciding game by winning the night’s championship opening game 9-3.
After regrouping from the opener, Brewton claimed the title in grand fashion as Caleb Winton, who had two wins on the mound in the tournament, capped off the championship by pitching a gem of a game. Winton, who also got the win Saturday over Atmore (6-4) in the winners’ bracket final, fired a complete-game one-hitter on 103 pitches to get the shutout.
For Brewton, 9 of the 12 members of the team won the district title as 10-year-olds and again last year as 12s, where they eventually finished third in the Cal Ripken state tournament. They were the only 11-year-old team in the district two years ago so it did not have a chance to win the tournament and moved straight to state tournament play.
“This is a great group of young men and I’m so happy they were able to achieve something they have worked so hard for,” said head coach Randy Winton. “I’m proud of the character we showed in that second game after a very good Atmore team beat us. We didn’t play well at all in that first game, but came back and played like we’re capable of playing and got the job done. We are fortunate to have coaches like Joey Booker and Steve Parker, who put so much into this championship.
“We’re not a team where one or two people are going to dominate,” Winton continued. “Our pitchers threw strikes all weekend long, and other than the first-game breakdown defensively tonight, we played very well on defense the rest of the weekend. Every single player on this team did something every night to help us win, and that’s what makes this championship special.”
In his three appearances on the mound, Winton booked two wins and a save over 11 innings of work. In that span, he only allowed two hits while striking out 10 and didn’t yield a single earned run through the tournament. In the meantime, Lane Clark got the other win – 15-1 in the opener over Monroeville Friday, where he yielded just two hits – while JoJo Booker and Joshua Winton also pitched well, giving up just a combined three hits over seven innings on the mound.
“We definitely pitched well, and I thought our catcher Hunter Brittain managed the pitchers well,” Winton said. “Hunter caught every inning of every game, didn’t have a single passed ball and made play after play when we needed it. We really played well defensively in a lot of positions, but you have to have a great catcher to win, and we had that.”
The Brewton 13s will now move on to the Babe Ruth State Tournament, which will begin Saturday at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia.
BREWTON 8, ATMORE 0 (Championship Game)
After losing the first game of the championship, Brewton knew the importance of  keeping Atmore off the bases and jumping out early and maintaining a lead.
Caleb Winton continued his command on the mound. After pitching five innings in the first two games of the tournament and allowing just a lone run on a bases-loaded walk, Winton threw 103 pitches to get the 7-inning complete-game shutout.
Along the way, while just striking out three, he relied on an airtight defense that converted five groundouts and 11 fly ball outs to keep the Atmore bats at bay.
In the meantime, the top six hitters in the Brewton lineup – Lane Clark, Jordan Williams, JoJo Booker, Hunter Brittain, Joshua Winton and Derrick Barton – went a combined 10-of-18 at the plate to provide C. Winton with plenty of offense. Clark (2 RBIs), Williams, Booker and Barton (2 RBIs) all had two hits each.
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Barton started a two-run bottom of the second by being hit by a pitch. Stokes Jennings followed with a walk. After a strikeout, O’Neil White reached on an error to load the bases, setting up Clark’s two-run double to left-centerfield and Brewton led 2-0.
With the top of the Atmore order coming to the plate in the third, catcher Hunter Brittain made a great play on a bunt, throwing the runner out at first, and Winton struck out the next two batters.
White helped Brewton add another run in the fourth after he singled and eventually scored on Williams’ double to make it 3-0. Brewton added another run in the fifth when Brittain singled, was moved to second on a bunt by Joshua Winton, and scored on Barton’s double.
Already leading 4-0 and Atmore not mounting much of a threat offensively, Brewton put the game out of reach with a four-run sixth inning. A one-out walk to Clark was followed by consecutive singles by Williams and Booker to score him. Brittain then reached on an error that scored both Williams and Booker and Brittain scored on a ground out by Baylen Parker.
The championship was sealed in the top of the seventh when Winton coaxed a pair of fly balls to the infield and, fittingly, struck out the last batter.
ATMORE 9, BREWTON 3 (Championship Game 1)
With Brewton committing an uncharacteristic seven errors, Atmore was able to jump out to a 5-0 advantage which led to Brewton’s downfall in the first game of the championship series. Atmore’s win, in which only three of its runs were earned, forced a second and deciding game for the championship.
Atmore took the lead in its first at-bat, scoring a lone run. It added four runs in the third to take control at 5-0 before Brewton put a minor rally together and scored three runs, two coming on a two-out single by Jordan Williams.
The rally, and the momentum, was short-lived when Atmore answered in the bottom of the fifth with three runs to put it out of reach.
For Brewton, its five hits were scattered between Williams, Lane Clark, Hunter Brittain, Joshua Winton, Derrick Barton and O’Neil White. Clark and Winton pitched for Brewton and gave up a combined three earned runs while striking out two each.
R. Johnson led Atmore’s 8-hit attack with three singles, while G. Thames added two hits, and N. Cooler, X. McGee and T. Sells also contributed singles. E. Williams got the complete-game win with three strikeouts, four walks and five hits.
BREWTON 6, ATMORE 4
In Saturday’s winners’ bracket final, Brewton was down 4-3 going into the sixth inning but never panicked. It scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning to take the lead, then added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to get the win.
In the meantime, closer Caleb Winton slammed the door on Atmore over the final two frames. Facing the heart of the order over the final two innings, Winton booked consecutive 1-2-3 innings with three strikeouts and three groundouts. His performance was set up by JoJo Booker, who came on to relieve starter Lane Clark in the third. The gutty Booker threw 2.1 scoreless innings with a sore arm while giving up just three hits and striking out two.
Both teams booked six hits, but the difference came on the defensive side of the field. While Atmore was committing five errors, Brewton was spotless on defense and made big plays at big times to secure the win. In the first inning and the scored tied 1-1, Atmore had runners at second and third with just one out when shortstop Derrick Barton made a diving catch on a line drive and doubled the runner off at second to end the threat.
In the second, after Brewton took a 3-1 lead, Atmore had a runner at second with just one out. Barton took a ground ball and threw the runner out at first. As the runner from second tried to advance, Booker threw across the field to third-baseman C. Winton, who then dove at the last second to make the tag at the base to complete the double play. In the sixth with one out and the top of the order up, Barton made a spectacular play up the middle, bobbled the catch, made the throw while sitting down and first baseman Joshua Winton scooped it from his backhand to complete the thrilling play.
Brewton’s 3-1 lead came in the top of the third inning when Jordan Williams led off with a walk, and Booker singled. Brittain then followed with a single to leftfield. An error on the throw back to Atmore’s second-baseman scored Williams, then the attentive Booker scored when the ball was held on the infield.
Atmore rallied in the bottom of the inning and scored three runs after two outs on three walks, a single and double. With the bases still loaded, a fly out to Barton finally ended the inning with Atmore ahead 4-3.
In the sixth, Brewton began its comeback bid. C. Winton led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by O’Neil White. After a line-drive out, Jordan Williams got a two-out hit to move Winton to third. Booker then drove a slicing single that the right-fielder misplayed and both Winton and Williams scored to give Brewton the 5-4 lead. Barton provided the insurance run in the top of the seventh when he walked, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, he scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.
Williams led Brewton’s six-hit attack with two singles and two runs scored, while Clark, Booker (RBI), Brittain and Stokes Jennings all had lone hits.
Atmore was led by E. Williams and B. Cummings, each of whom had two hits, while G. Thames and R. Johnson added hits.
BREWTON 15, MONROEVILLE 1
In its opening-round, five-inning win Friday, Brewton pounded out 11 hits and took full advantage of eight Monroeville errors, while Lane Clark and Caleb Winton combined for a three-hit effort on the mound.
Brewton scored early and often, with six of its 11 hits coming from the meat of the order as Jordan Williams, JoJo Booker and Hunter Brittain each had two.  Both of Brittain’s hits were RBI doubles. Booker, Williams, Lane Clark, Joshua Winton and Derrick Barton all had RBI hits as well.
A six-run first inning sent Brewton to what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Clark led off with an infield single before Williams walked to set up Booker’s RBI hit. Brittain then followed with a two-run double in the left-centerfield gap to make it 3-0. Brittain scored on J. Winton’s single. Winton eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. Barton walked, stole second and ended up scoring on a wild pitch.
Monroeville threatened to cut the lead down considerably when it had bases-loaded with no outs before Clark coaxed a two-hopper to shortstop Barton, who then got the forced out at home. Clark struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam unscathed.
Also getting hits in Brewton’s 11-hit assault were Preston Townsend and Tyler Baxter, each of whom had singles.