By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
The higher seed made a clean sweep in first-round play in both divisions of the Little League City Series Tournament Monday.
The fourth-seeded Brewton Mariners slipped by the fifth-seeded East Brewton Braves 7-6 and the third-seeded East Brewton Cubs downed the sixth-seeded Brewton Royals 10-2 in the Age 9-10 Tournament held at East Brewton's R.T. Johnson Park.
Meanwhile the Age 11-12 Tournament, which is being held at the Brewton Area YMCA Park, saw the fourth-seeded East Brewton Dodgers oust the fifth-seeded Brewton Astros 4-1. The third-seeded Brewton Rangers got a 1-0 forfeit win over the sixth-seeded East Brewton Mets.
Play resumes in both tournaments Thursday with semifinal games. Games in the Age 9-10 Tournament will pit the second-seeded Brewton Cardinals against the East Brewton Cubs at 5:30 p.m. and the top-seeded East Brewton A's against the Brewton Mariners at 7:30 p.m.
Games in the Age 11-12 Tournament will pit the second-seeded East Brewton Yankees against the Brewton Rangers at 5:30 p.m. and the top-seeded Brewton Tigers against the East Brewton Dodgers at 7:30 p.m.
Both championship games will be Friday. The 9-10s will play their finale at East Brewton at 5:30 p.m. The starting time for the 11-12s, which will be played at Brewton, has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m.
Age 9-10 Tournament
(B) Mariners 7, (EB) Braves 6
The last at-bat proved to be the most important, as the Mariners pushed across the game-winner in the bottom of the fourth inning to snap a 6-6 deadlock.
Dylan Etheridge was struck by a pitch at the start of the inning and then came around to score the winning run without the aid of a hit.
The Mariners got off to a tough start, as they spotted the Braves a 3-0 lead before they even came to bat.
The Braves built their cushion in the top of the first inning on just one hit. Alex O'Keane walked, Joseph Booker singled and Dillan Simmons walked. Each then scored on a combination of stolen bases and wild pitches.
Walker Harris got the Mariners on the board in the bottom of the first inning when he walked, stole second and scored on a pair of wild pitches.
A five-run rally in the bottom of the second inning gave the Mariners a 6-3 lead. A single by Carter Frezell and a walk to Ethan Bollenbacher set up an RBI single by Harris. Kellyn Winn walked in front of a two-run single by Etheridge. James Peach walked and Christian Mancil was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run. Another run scored on a wild pitch.
The Braves pulled within 6-5 with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Quantae Barksdale and Lane Chavers beat out infield singles and both scored on wild pitches.
A two-out, RBI single by Simmons in the top of the fourth enabled the Braves to pull even after O'Keane walked and moved up a base on a groundout.
Winn worked the last one and two-thirds innings to get the win for the Braves, as he struck out four and allowed one hit.
(EB) Cubs 10, (B) Royals 2
Fourteen of the 18 outs the Royals had came by strikeouts against the pitching of Miles Powell and Brandon Lum. Powell struck out 10 and allowed just two hits, while Lum whiffed four and allowed one hit in relief.
The Royals took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Chris Jones tripled and Ethan Tyree singled him home, but it was mostly downhill from there.
The Cubs tied it in the bottom of the first when Powell doubled and Nick Laster drove him in with an RBI single.
Four errors by the Royals' defense enabled the Cubs to score four runs in the bottom of the third and take a 5-1 lead they never relinquished. Powell reached on an error, Taylor Elliott singled, Lum reached on an error and two errors were made after Nick Laster reached on a fielder's choice.
The Cubs broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning that ran their cushion up to 10-1. Powell reached on an error and scored his third run of the game when Elliott tripled. Laster also tripled and scored on a single by Tristan Fore. Cameron Morris reached on a fielder's choice and an error. Brad Robinson and Heath Hammac both singled to drive in two more runs.
Age 11-12 Tournament
(EB) Dodgers 4, (B) Astros 1
Hunter Mullins scattered four hits, struck out 10 and added an RBI single to pace the Dodgers.
The lone run the Astros managed against Mullins was unearned when Caden Lodge reached on an error and scored in the top of the first inning.
The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the first when Trent Wright singled, moved up two bases on a pair of passed balls and scored on an RBI single by Shawn Lucas.
Camryn Blackman's two-run double in the bottom of the second gave the Dodgers the lead for good. A double by TyQuis Collins and a walk to Sa'Core McCants set up Blackman's key hit.
The Dodgers stretched their lead to 4-1 in the fourth when Blackman walked, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI single by Mullins.
Astros pitchers Darby Black and Kyle Davis struck out 12 Dodgers in a losing cause.
Kyle Davis also had a double for the Astros, while Kevin Davis, Black and Cody Smith added singles.