Braves, Cubs slip past semifinal opponents
Published 4:49 pm Monday, May 31, 2004
By Staff
Braves (B) 5, Cardinals (B) 2
The Cardinals' Cinderella postseason run came to an end thanks to the Brewton regular season Age 9-10 champion Braves.
Prior to their departure, the sixth-seeded Cardinals took the Braves down to the wire before they succumbed.
Cards pitcher Wes Maddox did his part to keep his team in the game, as he limited the Braves to just two hits and one run through the first four innings.
The Braves scored the game's only run up to that point in the bottom of the third inning when Cody Smith doubled and scored on an RBI by Conner Denton.
The Braves broke through against Maddox and the Cardinals in the bottom of
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the fifth, as a walk to Christian Purvis, an RBI triple by Denton, an RBI single by Tyler Etheridge and an error on a ball hit by Jon Ellis led to four runs and stretched the lead to 5-0.
As it turned out, the Braves needed the extra insurance. The Cardinals ended their scoreless string in the top of the sixth inning when an error on a ball by Ricky Curry and an RBI single by Hunter Hanks produced a couple of runs.
In the end, the Braves pitching duo of Purvis and Denton proved too much. The duo allowed just three hits, two of which came from Sean Odom. Purvis fanned five and allowed just one hit over the first three innings. Denton gave up two hits and struck out the side in each of the final three innings for nine strikeouts and 14 total for the Braves.
Cubs (EB) 11, Athletics (B) 8
East Brewton's final Little League entry in either age bracket became the first to taste a postseason victory when the Cubs rallied to beat the Brewton Athletics 11-8. East Brewton teams had been 0-5 prior to the Cubs' triumph. The Cubs had won the East Brewton regular season for Age 9-10.
The Cubs came from behind on three occasions, as they wiped out deficits of 2-0, 7-6 and 8-7.
A double by Hunter Jernigan and a couple of passed balls had enabled the Athletics to take that last advantage in the top of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cubs scored what proved to be four decisive runs and moved in front 11-8. Walks to Camryn Blackmon, Dillon Anthony and Taylor Ballard, a triple by Reid Johnson and an error on a ball hit by Houston Pace led to the winning runs.
Despite a game that featured 19 runs, the contest only had four hits and just two by each team. Both teams issued eight walks. Jernigan had both of the Athletics hits, a single and a double. Johnson and Ballard both had triples for the Cubs.
Ballard started and worked the first four innings to get the win for the Cubs, while Johnson hurled a scoreless fifth inning for a save.