By Staff
from staff reports
As the weather continues to warm up, so does the action on the baseball field at the YMCA Sports Park. 
Little League’s Week 3 was put to bed Thursday night with a pair of 11-12 Division games and another in 9-10.
In the upper age group, two teams – the Rockies and the Brewers – continued their exciting duel for first place. Going into their match up tied for the top spot, the Brewers were able to withstand a late Rockies rally and claim an 11-9 victory.
In the other 11-12 game, the Rangers and Tigers provided fans with a terrific pitching duel. The hard-luck Tigers lost, 2-1, despite a combined no-hitter from Austin Holmes and Will Smith, while the Rangers welcomed back hard-throwing pitcher Timothy McDonald, who played his first game of the year and did not disappoint.
In the younger division game, the Braves held on to their top spot in the standings with a 14-6 win over the Marlins.
Brewers 11, Rockies 9
In the battle for first place in the standings, the Brewers (6-1) were able to withstand a furious comeback bid from the Rockies (5-2) and hang on for the win.
In the midst of four lead changes, it took a pivotal seven-run third inning to make the difference for the Brewers. Even that didn’t seem to be enough when the Rockies – down 11-6 – orchestrated a two-out rally with three runs and the tying run at second base before Caleb Winton snuffed the rally with a stellar defensive play from second to get the final out.
The Rockies went up 2-0, then 6-4 early – thanks to a towering two-run home run by Hunter Brittain - but then watched the Brewers parlay five walks and two timely hits into the seven runs needed to win.
Tyler Hoomes had a bases-loaded two-run single and Dakota Stokes an RBI triple in the deciding frame.
Hoomes and Ethan Tyree led the Brewers’ six-hit attack with two each. Hoomes had three RBIs and scored a run.
Stokes and Jared Cooper had the other two hits. Brooks Brown walked three times and scored each time, as did Joshua Winton, who was twice hit by a pitch and walked once.
The Rockies, who also got a home run blast from Kellyn Winn, had seven hits in the game. Brittain had two hits and three RBIs, Jake Najor had a triple and scored twice, Trippe Floyd was 1-for-1 with two walks and scored three runs, Christopher Gehman had an RBI hit and scored a run and Alex Daugherty had an RBI double.
Rangers 2, Tigers 1
The Rangers won their second game of the season despite not recording a single hit. But thanks to lights-out pitching from starter Timothy McDonald and reliever Landon Salter and two late-inning runs, they were able to edge the Tigers.
McDonald pitched three and two-third innings without yielding a hit and struck out eight. Salter pitched the rest of the way, giving up three hits and recording two strikeouts.
While the Rangers scored on a bases-loaded walk and a passed ball in the third inning, the final result overshadowed a tremendous pitching effort from Tigers Austin Holmes and Will Smith, who combined for a no-hitter. Holmes, the starter, struck out four while Smith added five strikeouts.
The Tigers, who scored their run in the sixth inning, had three hits – all singles – from Baylen Parker, Duncan Brittain and Stokes Jennings.
Braves 14, Marlins 6
Despite a four-run, third-inning rally the Braves were able to keep the Marlins at bay long enough to win.
While Russell Smith was getting another win on the mound he was receiving plenty of help at the plate from Matthew Bradford. Bradford himself had a double and accounted for six RBIs. Smith, who struck out four in just over two innings, also had two hits, with an RBI, as did Steven McCall.
The Marlins got two hits, with Andrew Etheridge registering a two-run triple, while Todd Watson added an RBI hit as well.