By Staff
From staff reports
The Brewton 9-10 Little League All-Star baseball team had used three simple ingredients for their success in winning the District 5 championship: throw strikes, do the little things well and put the ball in play.
When they got to Mobile for the first round of the Alabama State tournament Saturday evening, getting two of those three things done wasn’t enough.
In their attempt to be the first 9-10 team to ever win a game in a state tournament for Brewton, they threw a lot of strikes and put the ball in play with seven hits … but a shaky defense proved the difference.
Six infield errors and one in the outfield led to nine unearned runs and propelled Huntsville International to an 11-4 victory.
As of press time, the Brewton all-stars had not played their second game. While scheduled to play Monday night, a Sunday rain delay pushed the tournament back a day. They were to face the loser between Westside Mobile and Roanoke in a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday game.
In its game Saturday, the Brewton squad watched as Huntsville built a 6-0 lead in the first two innings on the strength of only three hits. Up 2-0 after one inning, two costly miscues in the second frame allowed Huntsville to tack on four more runs as it sent 10 batters to the plate.
Brewton cut into the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Joshua Winton led off with a walk.
O’Neil White came in to run for him and scored when Caleb Winton smashed a hit into the left-centerfield gap.
With two outs in the inning, Drew Williamson slapped an RBI single that scored Caleb Winton to make it a 6-2 lead for Huntsville.
Despite holding Huntsville scoreless for the next two innings, Brewton couldn’t cut into the lead, then watched as three more errors led to a run in the fourth, two more in the fifth and still two more in the sixth.
Huntsville finished the night with nine hits.
Brewton did manage to score a pair of fifth inning runs as Hunter Brittain pounded a long single to centerfield, and was followed by a single from Jordan Williams.
Brittain scored on a passed ball from third, and Williams scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball by Caleb Winton.
For Brewton, Williamson and Brittain each had a 2-for-4 night at the plate, Williams was 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch and C. Winton was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Stokes Jennings was a bright spot for the defense, making two running catches in right field.