By By BRUCE HIXON-Sports Editor
In what is often the climax of the Brewton/East Brewton Little League season, the annual City Tournament has had plenty of dark clouds hover over it.
Literally.
Rain caused two days of postponements and suspended play another day before the tournament resumed Saturday.
The second-seeded East Brewton Dodgers used a stellar pitching performance from Hayden Cooper to beat the fifth-seeded Brewton Devil Rays 9-1 and land a spot in the Age 11-12 championship game.
The Dodgers' championship game opponent was the Mets, who stunned the top-seeded Brewton Rangers 9-7 in the other semifinal.
The championship game of the Age 11-12 Tournament was played after this issue's press deadline. A recap of that game will appear in Wednesday's issue.
Meanwhile the championship game of the Age 9-10 tournament will be played today at 2 p.m. between the Brewton Braves and the East Brewton Braves.
Brewton's Braves, the second seed, rallied for three runs in their final at bat to top the Brewton Cubs 9-8 in one semifinal game. The top-seeded East Brewton Braves came from behind to beat the Brewton Cardinals 8-5 in the other semifinal.
Earlier in the day Saturday the Brewton Cubs advanced with a 9-2 win over the East Brewton Athletics. That game was suspended due to rain Friday with the score tied at 2-2 in the second inning.
In the other first-round game, the Brewton Cardinals picked up a forfeit win over the Brewton Cubs.
That game was also suspended due to rain Friday with the score deadlocked at 1-1 in the second inning. However, the Cubs had just five available players when play resumed Saturday.
Age 11-12 Semifinals
(B) Mets 9, (B) Rangers 7
The complexion of the game changed when the Mets strung together a seven-run rally in the top of the fourth inning that wiped out what had been a 4-2 lead for the Rangers.
The Mets preserved their win in the bottom of the sixth inning when reliever Ryland Dixon got Rangers slugger Conner Denton, who had earlier doubled, tripled and driven in three runs, to line into a double play when he represented the tying run at the plate.
The Mets were led by Bryant Jernigan's two singles and three RBIs. Rickey Curry had a pair of singles and one RBI, while Michael McGaha also had two singles. Hunter Franklin had a two-run single, while Christian Purvis, Jon Ellis and Austin Graddy all had a single.
Dixon worked the final four innings and struck out seven to get the win.
In addition to Denton's offensive output, the Rangers received a single and a double from Dan Smith plus RBI singles from Parker Reiss, Ed Hines and Randy Davis.
(EB) Dodgers 9,
(B) Devil Rays 1
The Devil Rays managed little contact against Cooper, who posted 15 of his team's 18 defensive outs by strikeouts.
The Dodgers got all the output they needed in the bottom of the first inning when they put up four runs. After the Devil Rays cut the gap to 4-1 with their only run in the top of the fifth inning, the Dodgers pulled away with a five-run rally in the bottom half of the inning.
Justin Tompkins had a pair of RBI singles to lead the Dodgers attack, while Cooper helped his cause with a pair of singles and two runs scored. Taylor Ballard had a single, an RBI and scored
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twice. Brant Blackwell had a single and an RBI, while Trent Wright chipped in a single.
The Devil Rays got a double by Louis Miller and singles by Shawn Odom, Trent Robinson and Marc Edge.
Age 9-10 First round
(B) Cubs 9, (EB) Athletics 2
The Cubs scored nine unanswered runs after the Athletics took a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Landen Huff had two singles and RBI to pace the Cubs, while Rob Stokes had a double and two RBIs. Josh Maloy also had a double and drove in a run, while Aaron Yuhasz added a single.
The Cubs got a two-run single from Cord Moulder and singles from Cam Blackman, Shawn Lucas and Tyler Joyner.
Stokes, Yuhasz and Jesse Williams teamed up on the four-hitter for the Cubs and combined for seven strikeouts. Each went two innings.
Semifinals
(EB) Braves 8, (B) Cardinals 5
The Braves wiped out a 4-3 deficit with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Chase Kaylor led the Braves with three singles and three RBIs. Dalton Evans had a single and an RBI. Jonathan Hall and Damien Williams each had a single.
Evans tossed a two-hitter and struck out 10 for the win.
The Cardinals got a double and two RBIs from Rasheen Thomas and a single and an RBI by Denver Harris.
(B) Braves 9, (B) Cubs 8
Wes Maddox's RBI single with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning capped off a three-run frame for the winners.
Alec Robinson had a single, a double and scored three runs to lead the Braves. Ryan Hunt had two singles. William Whittle and Maddox each had a single and an RBI. Darby Black had a single.
Robinson went the last four innings to get the win.
The Cubs got a single and a double from Jesse Williams. Caleb Hubbard added a double. Rob Stokes, Aaron Yuhasz, Allen Miller and Zack Griffin all had a single.