By BY BRUCE HIXON – sports editor
The curtain came down on the Brewton Babe Ruth 14-year-olds Friday at the state tournament at Sylacauga, as they concluded their portion of pool play with an 0-4 record.
Brewton was outscored in its four losses by a combined 49-5 margin. Its final three setbacks to Semmes, West Alabama and Huntsville, came by the 10-run rule.
Alexander City 4, Brewton 1
Brewton missed a chance to strike first when it left the bases loaded with one out in the top of the first inning on singles by Trent Robinson, Cody Swain and Wil Riggs.
As it turned out, Brewton had just three more hits the rest of the game in its 4-1 loss to Alexander City in its opening game of the tournament Wednesday.
Alexander City also missed out on some opportunities especially in the early going. Alexander City left eight runners on base in the first three innings, which included the bases full in the second and third innings.
Brewton starting pitcher Trent Robinson dodged a
potential big blow, but was nicked for three runs during those frames.
Two walks and a single set up a bases-loaded walk to Ethan Jones and a second run scored in the bottom of the second when Seth Johnson reached on an error.
Brewton cut that gap in half when it plated its lone run in the top of the third. Bradley Brown walked and Swain singled for the second of his three hits in the game. Riggs followed with his second hit of the game, an RBI single, although his hit actually ended up as a double play when both he and Swain were thrown out on the bases.
Alexander City got that run back and stretched its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third when Chase Green singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Dillon Mattox.
Singles by Gage Whitehead and Ethan Jones set up an RBI double by Seth Johnston that extended Alexander City's lead to 4-1 in the sixth.
At Sylacauga
Brewton 001 000 0 - 1 6 1
Alexander City 021 001 X – 4 7 0
Semmes 18, Brewton 1
Semmes sent 16 batters to the plate and 13 of those scored in the opening inning on its way to an 18-1 win in Wednesday's second game of the day for Brewton.
Twelve of the 13 runs in that frame, which were all charged to starting hurler Wil Riggs, were unearned.
Brewton committed all four of its errors in the inning. The biggest came when Semmes already had a 2-0 lead and the bases full and two out. A throwing error on a ball hit by Shelby Glass allowed all three runs to score and made it 5-0.
Brewton, which got only four hits against Semmes pitchers Clay McKeagh and Dalton Grisselty, scored its lone run in the top of the third when Cody Swain walked and both Bradley Brown and Ryland Dixon singled.
At Sylacauga
Brewton 001 00 – 1 4 4
Semmes (13)02 3X – 18 12 1
West Alabama 14, Brewton 3
Both teams scored three times in the first inning, but it was all downhill for Brewton after that in its 14-3 loss to West Alabama in Friday's first game.
West Alabama scored 11 unanswered runs after that, which included four-run rallies in the second and third innings and a three-run uprising in the fifth.
Brewton managed only two hits, singles by Trent Robinson and Cody Swain. Tyler Sawyer picked up an RBI through a sacrifice fly and Edward Hines picked up the team's other RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Ryland Dixon went the first three innings for Brewton and took the loss.
At Sylacauga
W. Alabama 344 03 – 14 12 1
Brewton 300 00 – 3 2 4
Huntsville 13, Brewton 0
Brewton managed just one hit, a single by Devlin Crosby, as it concluded its portion of the tournament Friday with a 13-0 loss to Huntsville.
Huntsville got all the offense it needed when it plated five runs in the opening inning. It later tacked on four more in the second, three more in the third and a final marker in the fifth.
Cody Swain started and went the first two innings, as he took the loss for Brewton.
At Sylacauga
Huntsville 543 01 – 13 7 0
Brewton 000 00 – 0 1 4