By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
They did not get a mercy win, but the East Brewton Little League Age 9-10 Little League All-Stars got something more important.
Survival.
East Brewton lived to play another day when it outlasted Evergreen 15-13 in Monday's elimination bracket game at the district tournament at Andalusia.
Up 14-2 in the top of the fourth inning, East Brewton was three outs away from a mercy rule victory. Evergreen not only managed to score the minimum three runs it needed to keep the game going, it erupted for nine runs against three East Brewton relievers. Evergreen eventually cut the gap to just two runs in the top of the sixth inning and had the tying runs on base when the game ended.
Evergreen took a brief 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but East Brewton erupted for nine runs in the bottom half of the first inning.
The first 10 East Brewton batters reached safely, first against starter Jacob Hendrix and later against reliever Tray Lewis. The key hit for East Brewton came off the bat of Taylor Elliott, who delivered a two-run single. Miles Powell also had an RBI single in the inning. Evergreen's defense, which committed eight errors in the game, added plenty of fuel to the fire with three miscues in the opening inning.
East Brewton ran that advantage up to 14-2 when it scored five runs in the bottom of the third and kicked the 10-run rule into effect. Damion Williams drilled a two-run double, while Dylan Godwin, Tyler Joyner and Cameron Easterling added RBI singles.
East Brewton starting hurler Dylan Godwin struck out five and allowed just one hit in his three innings of work, but his successors did not fare quite so well.
Evergreen sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth. Five walks, a two-run single by Lewis, an RBI single by Patrick Johnson and an RBI double by Brandon Taylor fueled the nine-run rally that cut East Brewton's lead down to just 14-11.
James Gregory doubled and scored on an RBI groundout by Damion Williams in the bottom of the fourth, which stretched East Brewton's lead to 15-11.
Evergreen continued to chip away at the lead in the fifth. It took advantage of two walks, an RBI single by Lewis and a run-scoring wild pitch that cut East Brewton's advantage to 15-13.
That rest of the cushion threatened to disappear in the top of the sixth. A single by Taylor, a walk to Alan Stuart and a wild pitch had the tying runs in scoring position. Reliever James Gregory was able to preserve the win when he prevented Michael Raines, Drew Hardin and Quentin North from hitting the ball out of the infield.
East Brewton met Brewton Tuesday night in another elimination game.
At Andalusia
Evergreen 200 920 - 13 9 8
E. Brewton 905 10X - 15 11 3
Sunday's game
East Brewton, which got a first-round bye, fell into the elimination bracket Sunday when it dropped a 9-1 decision to Opp.
The game featured a couple of rain drops, but more dramatically a couple of lightning bolts that caused nearly a one-hour delay in the top of the sixth inning. More importantly, it featured an Opp lineup that racked up a dozen hits in its victory.
Every position but one in the Opp lineup had at least one hit. Even the one spot in the Opp lineup which did not get a hit, leadoff batter Ethan Davis, reached base three times through a walk and two errors.
East Brewton took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when an infield single by Michael Williams and a walk to Cameron Easterling set up
an RBI single by Dalton Simmons.
That lead did not last long, as Opp took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on an RBI double by Dakota King and an RBI single by Hayden Nobles.
Opp stretched that lead to 6-1 one inning later against East Brewton starting pitcher Tyler Joyner. A one-out single by Tanner Duffel and a double by Brady Vidich set up an RBI fielder's choice by Colt Harrell, a run-scoring error on a ball hit by Davis, an RBI groundout by Dakota King and an RBI single by Tyler Weeks.
Opp continued to pull away over the last two innings. Scotty Parrish doubled and scored in the fifth, while Weeks delivered an RBI double and Chase Robbins had an RBI single in the sixth.
East Brewton, which had just four hits, missed a couple of chances late in the game to close the gap. Quantae Barksdale had a one-out double in the fourth, but was stranded there. East Brewton stranded a pair of runners in the fifth when Easterling singled and Patrick Glass walked.
At Andalusia
Opp 002 412 - 9 12 0
East Brewton 010 000 - 1 4 3