By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Mother Nature apparently knew what she was doing when she rained out two battles between the Rockies and Phillies.
That forced the Brewton Babe Ruth League to add two dates to the end of its season for those games (as well as four other league contests) to be made up.
As it turned out, the two Rockies-Phillies games determined the league championship. The Rockies needed to win both to claim the crown and took the first step Monday with a 3-0 victory to pull within one game of the Phillies.
The Rockies would have pulled even with the Phillies with a victory Tuesday and would have been awarded the championship through a tiebreaker in head-to-head competition.
However, the Phillies avoided that scenario with an 11-4 triumph in a game they led from start to finish.
Rockies 3, Phillies 0
The Rockies kept their title hopes alive for another day with
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their 3-0 win over the Phillies Monday.
Rockies hurler Mackie Jackson won a masterful pitching battle against Phillies ace Baxley Raines.
Both pitchers allowed just one hit and struck out 16. Both pitchers also allowed six walks.
The Rockies got the only run they needed when they scored twice in the third inning. Chase Crosby and James Hamric both walked and then a pair of errors allowed both to score.
The Rockies got their final run in the sixth inning, also without the aid of a hit. Hamric was hit by a pitch, Land walked and then a wild pitch and passed ball allowed Hamric to score.
Jacob Cannon had the lone hit for the Rockies, while Corey Williams had the only hit for the Phillies. Both hits were singles.
Phillies 11, Rockies 4
The Phillies (12-3) set the tone for the game in the top of the first inning when five of their first six batters hit safely and four of those scored.
After Allen Williams led off with a single, Baxley Raines ripped an RBI double and Corey Williams drilled an RBI single to make it 2-0. Later in the frame RBI singles by Steven Matthews and Houston Simmons doubled that cushion to 4-0.
The Phillies ran that lead to 5-0 in the top of the third inning when Raines walked, stole second and scored on a single by Jimmy Conner.
The Rockies (10-5) finally got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Aaron Nelson's RBI single plated Mackie Jackson, who had singled and stole second.
The Phillies pulled even farther ahead in the fifth inning a walk to Raines, an RBI double by Corey Williams and a sacrifice fly by Conner made it 7-1.
Jackson had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, as the Rockies, who also got a run on a wild pitch, cut the gap to 7-3.
For all intent, the Phillies secured the win when their three-run sixth inning outburst swelled the gap to 10-3 courtesy of RBIs from Kevin Pace, William Shell and Allen Williams.
Allen Williams went the distance for the victorious Phillies, as he scattered seven hits and struck out eight.