Opp’s illegal player sends Brewton 11-12s to state tournament
Published 12:04 am Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Brewton Little League 11- and 12-year-old All Star team got a shock Monday night.
After falling to Opp in Opp in the championship game Wednesday, July 7, the team learned Monday night that Opp had played an ineligible player in the district tournament.
Opp went on to win the tournament, but now Brewton has been named champion and was set to begin state tournament play in Sylacauga Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Huntsville—almost two weeks exactly after their last game with no practices.
“When Robbie (Floyd, manager of the team) called me and informed me of the situation, he asked me what do you want to do,” Brewton coach Lew Najor said. “It was a last minute decision to make. My first thought was they (the kids) are 12 years old and this is their last year of playing Little League, so let’s put the decision in their hands and let them decide if they want to go forward.
“Their response was yes, they wanted to play.”
Floyd said when he was able to talk to all the kids on the team, they said “coach, I want to play.”
“I knew we had to try to put the trip together if there was any way possible,” Floyd said. “Thanks to a lot of people, we are headed to Sylacauga.”
Brewton’s 11-12 all stars included: Brooks Brown, Jared Cooper, Trippe Floyd, Tyler Hoomes, Jonathon Lucas, Timothy McDonald, Jake Najor, Ethan Tyree, Kellyn Winn, and Grant Youngblood. Floyd served as manager and Najor as the coach.