By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
The pieces are coming together for the upcoming Advanced Babe Ruth State Tournament, which will be played at Brewton's T.R. Miller High School July 12-16.
The tournament will consist of two divisions, one for age 16-year-old players and the other for age 16-18.
Brewton will be fielding teams in both age divisions. While rosters have been set, they will not be announced until after regular season play ends Friday.
The coaching staff for the two Brewton teams has been announced. Wayne Nall will serve as head coach for the 16-year-olds. His assistant coaches will be Mark Cannon and Joey Shell. Mike Perry will be the head coach for Brewton's age 16-18 division team. Jacob Salter will be an assistant coach. One additional assistant coach has yet to be announced.
Four teams will compete in each tournament. Smiths Station, Covington County and Gulf Coast, which is based out of Mobile, will compete along with Brewton in the 16-year-olds division. The age 16-18 tournament will consist of Atmore, Gulf Coast, Covington County and Brewton.
Pairings for the two tournaments have been announced.
The age 16-year-old tournament gets underway July 12 at 5:30 p.m. when Smiths Station meets Covington County. Brewton will open up its portion of the tournament July 13 against Gulf Coast. That contest is set for 7:30 p.m.
The two first-round winners will meet July 14 at 2:30 p.m., while the two losers will play that day at 6:30 p.m.
The second and final elimination game will be July 15 at 3 p.m. The championship round will begin later that day at 7 p.m.
If a second championship is needed, it will be played July 16 at a time to be announced.
The tournament for age 16-18-year-olds gets underway July 12 when Brewton meets Covington County at 7:30 p.m. The other first-round game will be July 13 at 5:30 p.m. when Gulf Coast plays Atmore.
The two first-round winners will play July 14 at 12:30 p.m., while the two first-round losers will play later that day at 4:30 p.m.
The second and final elimination bracket game will be July 15 at 1 p.m. The championship round will begin later that day at 5 p.m.
If a second championship game is needed, it will be played July 16 at 5:30 p.m.
The admission price will be $8 per session for fans age 13 and older, $4 for fans age 5-12 and free admission for fans age four and under. Those prices are set by the Babe Ruth State Association.
Perry, who is also the tournament director as well as Brewton Babe Ruth president, said it will take several workers to host the tournament.