By BY BRUCE HIXON – sports editor
Mother Nature bought the Brewton Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars another day, but it could not buy an additional game.
Brewton's run through the District 7 Tournament at Uriah fell one round short of the championship round Friday when it was doubled up 14-7 by South Monroe.
The game took two days to complete. South Monroe had a 4-2 lead halfway through the third inning when heavy rains stopped play.
Brewton was unable to catch South Monroe after play resumed Friday although it hung close until the seventh inning.
Too many free bases doomed Brewton's chances, as its pitching staff issued seven walks and two hit batsmen and its defense committed seven errors.
RBI singles by Dylan Smith and Josh Palmer plated Dodson Herrington and Stephen Warren in the bottom of the sixth and brought Brewton to within 8-7.
Any hope Brewton entertained of overcoming that deficit disappeared in the top of the seventh when its defense made four errors and South Monroe scored six times to extend its lead to 14-7.
Herrington had a pair of singles to lead Brewton's offense, while Warren got on base three times through a walk, a hit batsman and an error to go along with two runs scored.
Corey Rilling went the first three innings for Brewton and suffered the loss.
At Uriah
South Monroe 103 301 6 – 14 8 3
Brewton 111 022 0 – 7 6 7
Brewton 13, Evergreen 2
Brewton got some revenge for its 7-6 loss to Evergreen in Monday's opening round of the tournament with a 13-2, five-inning triumph Wednesday.
Knowles went the distance on a three-hitter and struck out three. He got plenty of offensive support with an 11-hit attack in addition to the 13 runs.
Brewton batted all the way through its lineup in the opening inning when it scored five times and took a lead it never relinquished. Stephen Warren, Corey Rilling and Dylan Smith sparked the rally with consecutive singles. Brian Sims also had a single in the frame to go along with a pair of walks and an error by the Evergreen defense.
Brewton stretched its lead to 7-0 with two more runs in the third thanks to singles by Rilling and Smith, a hit batsman and a single by Sims.
Four more runs in the fourth extended Brewton's lead to 11-0. Two walks, an error and singles by Palmer and Nick Moore fueled the rally.
Brewton added a couple more runs in the top of the fifth that made it 13-0 and ensured the game would end early on the 10-run rule. Rilling and Smith picked up their third hits of the game, both singles, during the inning. Knowles also had a single to go along with two errors by the Evergreen defense.
Knowles had a one-hit shutout going until the bottom of the fifth when a walk, a fielder's choice, a single by Austin Jones and a double by Justin Nared got Evergreen on the board.
At Uriah
Brewton 502 42 – 13 11 1
Evergreen 000 02 – 2 3 3
Brewton 9, Atmore 8
The old saying &#8220you can't give a team more than three outs in an inning” is true anytime, but it was especially true in Tuesday's elimination when the extra out Brewton got should have been the last out.
Brewton was down 8-5 with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh when Dylan Smith hit a flyball that bounced in and then out of the glove of Atmore second baseman Jacob Rackard.
One run score on the play and cut Atmore's lead to 8-6. More importantly it gave Brewton an extra swing at the plate and Josh Palmer took advantage with a game-winning three-run triple that lifted Brewton to an improbable 9-8 victory.
Atmore had taken the lead the inning before when it strung together four walks and a single by Nicholas Flowers and scored four runs to turn what had been a 5-4 Brewton lead into the 8-5 advantage for Atmore.
It was one of three leads Atmore had in the game. Atmore took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to an error, singles by Gavin Salter and Marshall Rollin and a fielder's choice.
Brewton used plenty of muscle to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning when a triple by Robert Knowles and a two-run homer by Stephen Warren knotted the score at 2-2.
A single and three walks enabled Atmore to score twice in the top of the third and take a 4-2 lead, but Brewton rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Warren got the second of his three hits in the game, a double, to start the frame. Smith followed with a single and Palmer and Brian Sims reached on infield errors on back-to-back plays. A walk to Shane Jerkins and a fielder's choice on a ball hit by Paul Miller added to the rally.
Knowles worked the final two innings and posted three strikeouts to get the win, while Rilling started and struck out nine over the first five frames.
At Uriah
Atmore 202 004 0 - 8 4 3
Brewton 200 300 4 - 9 9 1