By Staff
Manager Mark Manning and his 10-11 Brewton Little League All-Stars have adopted a simple motto this summer: Never give up.
With the heat index soaring into triple digits at East Brewton Park, Brewton lived up to its motto Saturday, rallying from an early deficit and holding Andalusia to just one run in the last four innings, to earn an 8-7 victory over the Bulldogs in the Little League District 5 championship game.
Brewton advances to the Little League 10-11 State Tournament in Sylacauga, beginning July 19.
Brewton scored three runs in the top of the first, but Andalusia rallied for five runs in the first and another in the second to take early control.
Andalusia didn't hit the ball out of the infield in the first inning, using four walks and three hit batters to complete its five-run outburst.
Brewton reliever Todd Mayo took the mound with the bases loaded and two outs in the first, and he got Gus Maraman to line out to first baseman James Peach to end the threat.
The teams scored a run apiece in the second, giving Andalusia a 6-4 lead, before Brewton struck for four runs in the fourth.
Kellyn Winn, Keaton Parker, Jones Manning and Chris James all scored in the fourth. Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Peach drove in a run with a groundout, and Manning scored on a wild pitch.
Andalusia left-hander Evans Barnes kept Brewton batters off balance until he was taken out in the fourth inning.
Only one Brewton batter reached base in the final two innings of the six-inning affair, but relievers Winn and Mayo kept Andalusia at bay.
Mayo lasted 3 2/3 innings, but he had to be relieved when he reached Little League Baseball's 85-pitch limit with two outs in the fifth. Winn then pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn the save.
Andalusia scored a run in the fifth when Cal McCalman walked, moved to second on Jacob Lee's infield hit, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Maraman's groundout. That cut Brewton's lead to 8-7.
With one out in the sixth, Andalusia's Devan McDuffie doubled off the centerfield fence, but he was stranded when Winn got two pop-outs to end the game.
Brewton players streamed out of the dugout to celebrate the final out, and players doused Manning with ice water after accepting the championship banner.
And at the state tournament, Brewton won't give up.