By By Adam Robinson – Sports Editor
After being basically hung out to dry in their opening game of the 11-and-12-year-old Little League tournament against Opp, the East Brewton All Stars picked up their second win in a row on Wednesday with a 5-2 win over Covington County before falling to Opp again on Thursday 7-5 to be eliminated from the tournament.
The win over Covington County placed East Brewton with the loser of the Andalusia and Opp game on Thursday (Opp).
East Brewton scored five runs in the win over Covington County, two more runs combined than their first two tournament games.
East Brewton scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and one in the fourth to claim the three run win after Covington County scored one run each in the second and third innings.
Quantae Barksdale picked up the win on the mound for East Brewton as Tyler Joyner earned the save.
Barksdale went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four in the win. Joyner went the final inning of play and recorded two strikeouts.
Damien Williams led East Brewton at the plate with a 1-for-3 day and one RBI.
Miles Powell was also 1-for-3 with a single and Dylan Godwin and Joyner were both 1-for-3.
Jared Salter added an RBI in the win with a sacrifice bunt in the first inning.
East Brewton took a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Powell led things off with a single and Williams followed with a walk.
Joyner followed with a single and a Covington County error loaded the bases for East Brewton with no outs.
Cam Easterling reached on another Covington County error and the sacrifice bunt by Salter gave East Brewton the four run lead after one inning of play.
Covington County would cut the East Brewton led to 4-1 in the second inning and 4-2 in the third inning, but East Brewton added a late run in the fourth inning to take the win.
In the fourth inning, a leadoff walk to Alex O'Keane and a wild pitch allowed East Brewton to have a runner on second and no outs.
Williams then singled with two outs to score O'Keane and East Brewton took the three run lead and the win.
Opp 7, East Brewton 5
After beating Covington County 5-2 on Wednesday night, East Brewton faced Opp on Thursday after Andalusia beat Opp in the winners bracket game.
The game would be the third game in as many days for the East Brewton All Stars.
After falling behind 5-0 after three innings of play, East Brewton scored five unanswered runs with one in the third inning, two in the fourth inning, and two more in the fifth inning to tie the game at 5-5 after five innings of play.
After tying the game at 5-5 in the fifth, Opp scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning after two East Brewton errors to claim the 7-5 win.
The win for Opp advanced them to the championship game against Andalusia. Opp would need to beat Andalusia twice to claim the 11-and-12-year-old championship.
The loss for East Brewton eliminated the All Stars. East Brewton finished with a 2-2 record in the tournament.
In the game against Opp Thursday night at the Brewton YMCA Sports Park, after a scoreless first inning for both teams, Opp drew first blood with three runs in the inning.
After getting the first out of the inning, Opp connected for five straight singles and a few East Brewton mental mistakes and errors to take the early 3-0 lead.
In the top of the third inning, Opp scored two more runs aided by an East Brewton error to take a 5-0 lead.
East Brewton cut the lead to 5-1 in the bottom half of the third inning.
A leadoff single by Mike Williams and an Opp error on a Brandon Carmichael hit put runners at first and third with no outs.
After a strikeout from East Brewton, a passed ball allowed Williams to score for East Brewton to cut the lead to four and Carmichael advanced to second with one out.
A sacrifice fly by Dylan Godwin pushed Carmichael to third with two outs, but East Brewton failed to do any further damage.
After a scoreless top half of the fourth inning for Opp, East Brewton cut the Opp lead to 5-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
In the fourth, a leadoff single by Tyler Joyner was followed by a single by Cam Easterling to put runners on first and second with no outs.
After getting one out, Jared Salter singled to load the bases for East Brewton and Mike Williams lined a one out double down the left field line to score pinch runner Alex O'Keane and Easterling.
East Brewton continued their scoring rally in the bottom of the fifth as they cut the Opp lead to 5-5.
In the inning, Dylan Godwin led the inning of with a double off the centerfield fence but was thrown out at third base trying to stretch his hit into a triple.
After the out, a walk to Damien Williams and a single by Joyner scored Williams after Williams took second on a passed ball.
Quantae Barksdale then doubled to score Joyner to tie the game at 5-5.
After tying the game at 5-5 after five innings of play, Opp scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-5 lead and the win as East Brewton failed to score in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Tyler Joyner took the loss on the mound for East Brewton. Joyner went the complete game six innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and walked two.
Offensively for East Brewton, Mike Williams led with a 2-for-3 day with a double and two RBIs.
Joyner was 2-for-3 with one RBI and Godwin was 1-for-3 with a double and one RBI.
Barksdale went 1-for-3 with one RBI and Easterling went 1-for-3. Salter went 1-for-3 and Miles Powell went 1-for-4.