By By Scott Cooper- Sports reporter
Entering their July 7 matchup against Andalusia on the heels of an opening-round loss in the District 5 Little League tournament played the Brewton YMCA Sports Park, the 11-12 year-old East Brewton All-Stars needed a win to remain in the competition.
For the first couple of innings, East Brewton appeared to be on the way to achieving their goal of securing a victory that would keep them alive.
However, Andalusia fought back to tie the game at the midway point before running away to a 9-4 win that eliminated East Brewton from the tournament.
While the Andalusia batters were retired with ease in both the first and second innings, the East Brewton offense went to work building an early advantage.
Justin Payne got things started in the first inning with a double before moving to second base on a passed ball. Payne scored later in the inning on an error to put East Brewton up, 1-0.
Tyson Godwin's walk began a second-inning rally. Jimmy Sims then entered the batter's box and delivered a clutch RBI double that scored Godwin while pushing East Brewton's lead to 2-0.
Andalusia got untracked on the offensive end with a top-of-the-third-inning scoring spree. Two singles, a triple and a walk led to three runs and a 3-2 Andalusia advantage.
Showing they intended to keep pace, the East Brewton All-Stars responded with a run in the bottom half of the third. Payne's single was followed by a Tyler Nall base hit. After a passed ball allowed both to move up a base, Payne came home on a Jacob Cannon fielder's choice that knotted the score, 3-3.
Over the next two innings, Andalusia outscored East Brewton 5-1 to take control.
After one unanswered run gave Andalusia a 4-3 advantage at the end of the fourth, four more Andalusia top-of-the-fifth runs were answered by a only one East Brewton run, making the score stand at 8-4 entering the final inning.
After adding a score in the sixth and holding the East Brewton offense at bay, Andalusia exited with a 9-4 win while East Brewton's tournament hopes came to an end.
Offensive leaders for East Brewton were Justin Payne, 2-for-2; Tyler Nall, 1-for-2; Jimmy Sims, 1-for-3 and Jacob Cannon, two RBIs.