By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
The final score may give the impression the Brewton Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars limped out of district competition Friday night.
While their 21-4, six-inning loss to Monroeville did eliminate them, Brewton was a lot more competitive than what the score indicated.
Much like Thursday's 8-4 first-round loss to South Monroe, Brewton was unable to recover from an early hole it dug. Monroeville built a 4-0 lead in the first inning before Brewton even came to bat.
Brewton was able to cut that gap to three runs on a couple of occasions and still trailed just 8-4 before Monroeville erupted for 13 runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Corey Rilling had a double to lead Brewton's five-hit attack. Cody Swain, who was the starting and losing Brewton pitcher, along with Paul Busby, Stephen Warren and Brian Sims all had a single.
At Monroeville
Monroeville 402 20(13) -21 11 N/A
Brewton 102 100 – 4 5 N/A
Thursday's game
Brewton kicked off the tournament Thursday with a 7-5 loss to South Monroe.
Seven errors, six of which came on throws through relays and pickoff attempts, were a big part of Brewton's downfall.
Brewton was unable to climb its way out of a hole it dug in the early going.
A pair of walks, three throwing errors and a run-scoring wild pitch led to two South Monroe runs in the bottom of the first inning. It would be a lead
South Monroe would not relinquish.
Brewton was able to cut that lead in half in the top half of the second inning. Cody Swain was struck by a pitch, went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Wil Riggs drilled an RBI single.
South Monroe, which left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings, opened up some breathing room in the bottom of the third inning when an RBI single by Kyle Benson and a two-run single by Josh Lynam off Brewton starting hurler Corey Rilling bumped the lead up to 5-1.
Brewton's best chance to wipe out that deficit occurred in the top of the fifth inning.
Paul Busby singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Rilling reached on an error. After Robert Knowles singled, Swain lashed a two-run double that pulled Brewton to within 5-4.
South Monroe picked up a key insurance run that proved to be the decisive marker in the bottom of the fifth inning when Lynam walked, stole second and scored on a pair of wild pitches issued by Brewton reliever Robert Knowles.
Brewton once again cut the gap to a mere run in the top of the sixth when Riggs walked, went to second on a wild pitch, went to third on Paul Miller's groundout and scored on Busby's RBI groundout to make it 6-5.
Just like the previous inning, Brewton was unable to keep it a one-run game. South Monroe once again gave itself a little room for error in the bottom half of the sixth when Tyler Pharr walked, went to second on a wild pitch, went to third on Josh Norris' single and scored on another wild pitch that made it 7-5.
At Monroeville
Brewton 010 031 0 – 5 7 7
S. Monroe 203 011 X – 7 8 3