By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
They received one shortcut on paper when they drew a first-round bye, but the Brewton Little League Age 10-11 All-Stars took an even more impressive shortcut on the field.
Brewton needed just three and a half innings to wipe out Andalusia 11-1 in Sunday's second round of the District 5 Tournament held at the Brewton Area YMCA Park.
The win sent Brewton into the championship round against Covington County where it has two chances to win the tournament. The first opportunity came Tuesday night. If Covington County won Tuesday, a second and decisive championship game will be played tonight at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the state tournament, which gets underway July 14 at Jackson.
Brewton pitcher Rob Stokes limited Andalusia to just two hits, as he struck out seven in a complete game effort.
Stokes received plenty of offensive support from his teammates, who racked up a dozen hits. Nine of those came in an eight-run third inning that kicked the 10-run rule into effect.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Brewton got on the board with a three-run rally.
Singles by Darby Black and Taylor Cordell set up an RBI single by Zac Griffin. Two Andalusia errors allowed two more runs to score.
Andalusia trimmed that gap to 3-1 in the top of the third when Todd Wright walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Evan Barnes.
Any momentum Andalusia gained from that marker was wiped out in a big way when Brewton sent a dozen batters to the plate in its decisive eight-run outburst in the bottom half of the inning.
The rally began with consecutive singles by Dominique Jackson, Caden Lodge and Darby Black, which stretched the lead to 4-1.
Andalusia had a chance to prevent any further damage, as the next two Brewton batters struck out. However, the next six Brewton batters reached base safely. Trey Salter ripped an RBI double, Landen Huff stroked an RBI single, Ryann Gray walked, Stokes singled, Jackson tripled for his third hit of the game and Lodge picked up his second hit of the game with a single.
At Brewton
Andalusia 001 0 – 1 2 4
Brewton 038 X - 11 12 0