By Staff
opener; drop second game
By Scott Cooper- Sports reporter
The 15-year-old Brewton All-Stars sprinted out of the gate in the Babe Ruth state tournament being played in Huntsville.
Gaining a win against South Huntsville in the July 11 tournament opener, the 15-year-old All-Stars advanced through the winner's bracket to face Valley in a July 12 second-round game. A hard-fought loss there, however, placed Brewton in a must-win situation over the remainder of the double-elimination tournament.
Brewton was next scheduled for another July 12 game to be played at 6 p.m. against Huntsville-East.
Details of that game will appear in the Wednesday edition of The Brewton Standard.
Brewton 16,
South Huntsville 11
A July 11 opening-round win over South Huntsville was marked by several lead changes as the teams jockeyed for the upper hand.
Brewton raced out to a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first inning, but South Huntsville had an immediate answer with five bottom-of-the-inning runs that gave them a 5-3 lead.
Determined to regain control, Brewton came right back in the top of the second with five runs that put them back on top, 8-5.
Although South Huntsville scored a lone run in the bottom half of the second to pull within one, 8-6, that was as close as they get.
Brewton padded the cushion to 10-6 in the third inning before adding another run in the fourth for an 11-6 lead.
Controlling the action the rest of the way, the 15-year-old All-Stars closed out a 16-11 win that placed them squarely in the winner's bracket of the competition.
Valley 4,
Brewton 3
Unlike the high-scoring slugfest that took place the day before, a July 12 meeting with Valley was highlighted by strong pitching and excellent defensive play.
After falling behind 3-0, the Brewton All-Stars closed the gap to 3-1 only to see Valley add a late run that upped their lead to 4-1. Brewton then mounted a last-inning rally that fell just short, forcing the local All-Stars into the loser's bracket with a 4-3 loss.
In the top of the first inning, Brewton loaded the bases with only one out. Jordan Cauley's single was followed by a Justin Smith base hit to right center field. After Spencer Williamson reached on an error, Brewton had runners on first, second and third bases. Two consecutive outs later, however, Brewton had missed a golden opportunity to score.
Valley struck quickly in the bottom of the first. Although producing only one hit, Valley took advantage of three walks and two errors to seize a 3-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, Brewton came to the plate in the top of the third and made things happen.
Smith singled to center field before stealing second base. Spencer Williamson then produced a clutch single to right field that moved Smith home and pulled Brewton closer at 3-1.
The score remained unchanged until Valley manufactured an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth. A single along with two sacrifices moved a runner home while pushing the advantage out to 4-1.
With their last at bat in the top of the seventh, the Brewton All-Stars almost pulled-off a comeback.
Wade McCall drew a walk before stealing second base. Antonio Gomez then powered a double against the leftfield fence to put runners on second and third. With Brewton in dire need of another big base hit, Mikel Riggs delivered in the form of a two-RBI single that made the score 4-3. However, that was as close as Brewton would come as Valley did what was necessary to polish off the win that forced Brewton into a must-win situation the remainder of the tournament.
Leading the Brewton offense were Spencer Williamson, 2-for-3 with one RBI; Justin Smith, 2-for-4; Jordan Cauley, 1-for-3; Antonio Gomez, 1-for-3 and Mikel Riggs, two RBIs.