Brewton Cal Ripken begins season

Published 10:01 am Friday, April 1, 2011

Here are game recap stories from recent Cal Ripken games played in Brewton.

OPENING DAY GAMES
On a picture-perfect day, things couldn’t have gone more perfectly for the Orioles in the 11-12 age division of Cal Ripken Baseball’s Opening Day Saturday at the YMCA Sports Park. Thanks to a pair of impressive complete-game pitching performances, the Orioles were able to win both of their games in the much-anticipated kickoff of Brewton’s initial season in Cal Ripken baseball for the 2011 season.
In doing so, the Orioles (2-0) opened with a 5-1 win over the Yankees in a game that saw 27 total strikeouts. They closed the day with a come-from-behind, 11-6 victory over the Phillies (0-2). In between, the Yankees (1-1) out-dueled the Phillies, 12-8.
In the 9-10 division, all three teams left as they arrived – all even as each went 1-1 on the day.
The Indians edged the Diamondbacks, 7-6, in the opener before the Cardinals beat the Indians, 10-8. The Diamondbacks then closed day with a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals.

11-12 DIVISION
ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 1
Facing just six batters over the minimum, Hunter Brittain was a force in his team’s opener. Brittain struck out 15 in an impressive two-hit performance, and then helped his own cause by launching a long leadoff home run in the third inning.
On the other side, Jason Konsler and Joshua Winton combined for a 12-strikeout performance for the Yankees. Konsler pitched three innings, yielding all five runs on just three hits while striking out 7, while Winton struck out five of the six he faced over two innings.
The Orioles benefited from five walks and timely hitting to gain an early 4-0 advantage in the first two innings; Jordan Williams had a leadoff single in the first before a two-out double in the second scored two runs. Nursing a 4-1 lead after an RBI groundout from Yankee Caleb Winton, Brittain added an insurance run with his towering home run in the fifth to account for all Oriole hits.
Joshua Winton had a line drive single and Baylen Parker a bunt single for the Yankees’ only hits.

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ORIOLES 11, PHILLIES 6
Facing a 4-1 deficit through four innings, the Orioles scored 10 runs over their last two at-bats to win, giving Stokes Jennings his first complete-game win as a pitcher. Jennings allowed six hits on four strikeouts and just one walk.
In that pivotal fifth inning, the Orioles’ Andrew Etheridge reached on a one-out error and scored on Jordan Williams’ double to make it 4-2. But three walks, a fielder’s choice and a hit batsman later, the game was tied 4-4 before Daniel Reed broke it wide open with a bases-clearing double down the left-field line.
Though the Phillies closed the gap to 7-6 in the bottom of the fifth, Russell Smith put the final nail in the coffin in the top of the sixth when he smashed a two-out, inside-the-park grand slam home run down the right field line.
For the Orioles, Williams – who finished Opening Day 5-for-7 at the plate – had three hits in the game, including a double. Reed and Smith had the only other hits for the Orioles, while the
Phillies were led by Drew Williamson and Cameron Pope, each of whom had two hits. Williamson had a triple and scored twice, and Austin Holmes added an RBI double.

YANKEES 12, PHILLIES 8
After watching an 8-5 lead vanish in the top of the fifth inning, the Yankees responded with four runs in the bottom of the decisive fifth to win the game.
Jason Konsler led off the fifth with a sharp single to left and scored two pitches later when Joshua Winton slapped an RBI double in the left-centerfield gap. After a walk to Preston Townsend, Ty McFerrin chased Winton and Townsend home with a double, then scored himself on Hayden Atkinson’s second hit of the game.
The Yankees – who won despite a combined 8-for-8 hitting effort of Phillies Drew Williamson and Lane Clark – had built their early lead with a five-run second inning as both Joseph Nance and Troy Lewis had RBI singles, before Caleb Winton smacked a two-out double to score two more runs. Lewis, Nance (2B) and Atkinson had two hits each for the Yankees, while Townsend added a triple.
Williamson, who ended Opening Day with a 6-for-7 effort at the plate, had a double and scored three runs, while Clark added a triple and scored three times as well. Tyler Baxter and Adam Holmes had the other two Phillies hits.

9-10 DIVISION
INDIANS 8, D-BACKS 7
Needing some late-inning heroics, the Indians got a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie it a 7-all, before Stone Martin’s double scored Blake Jernigan in the bottom of the seventh to win it.
Miller Hart got the win on the mound after pitching three innings in relief of starter Donovan Weaver. Weaver struck out six, while Hart struck out four, including two of the final four outs of the game. The Indian win overshadowed a fine pitching performance by Micah Flores, who recorded nine strikeouts for the D-Backs.
Flores also had a pair of hits and scored twice for the D-Backs, while Joseph Blackburn added a single and RBI double. Rider Jernigan had a one-out double then scored on an error to force the extra inning for the D-Backs. Weaver and James Carpenter led the Indians with two hits each, while Hart, Blake Jernigan, Caleb Whitworth, Martin and Trentez Johnson each had hits as well.

CARDINALS 10, INDIANS 8
The Cardinals parlayed four hits and two walks into six straight runs in the first inning en route to the win as the top six batters went a combined 7-for-9 in their first two at-bats in building a 9-3 lead after two innings.
Kyle Blevins had a pair of singles and a walk to score three runs, while Hunter Johnson added a pair of singles and two runs. Both Todd Watson and B. Smith had RBI doubles and Logan Bush walked three times and scored twice.
The Indians’ four-hit attack was led by Blake Jernigan (2B) and Trentez Johnson (3B) and a pair of singles by Donovan Weaver and Caleb Whitworth.

D-BACKS 7, CARDINALS 2
Behind an impressive pitching effort from Joseph Blackburn, the D-Backs were able to win the Opening Day nightcap easily. Blackburn registered eight strikeouts in hurling a complete-game, two-hit victory.
In the meantime, his teammates were supporting him with a pair of three-run innings early to gain the upper hand. Matt Smith led the way with a perfect day at the plate with three hits and three runs scored, including a pair of RBIs.

INTERLEAGUE PLAY
11-12 DIVISION
PHILLIES 18, EB GIANTS 9
In a five-inning thrashing, the Phillies’ Drew Williamson was shutting down the Giants from the mound while his teammates were providing plenty of support with 16 hits.
Williamson, who himself had as many hits (3) at the plate as he gave up to the entire Giants’ team, struck out 10 and walked just won. His 3-for-3 effort included a pair of doubles. Austin Holmes also added three hits for the Phillies (1-2), including a double, while Kristian Smith added a triple and double and Lane Clark had two singles. Garrett Cave, O’Neil White, Tyler Baxter, Daniel Blair, Cameron Pope and Harrison Hughes each had one hit each.
FLOMATON 6, ORIOLES 5
Flomaton limited the Orioles (2-1) to just four hits, a pair of singles from Jordan Williams and lone hits from Jake Whitworth and Hunter Brittain.
EB PHILLIES 4, YANKEES 1
Behind a dominant pitching effort from Joseph Booker, in which every out recorded against the Yankees was a strikeout, the Phillies claimed the victory.
Giving up just two hits, Booker struck out a career-high 18 batters en route to the win. The only two hits yielded was a sharply-hit triple down the left-field line by Joshua Winton and an infield single to Jason Konsler. Offensively, Booker was just as perfect at the plate, getting three hits with a pair of RBIs and one runs scored. Matt Hutchins added a single and double.
Caleb Winton struck out seven and walked just two for the Yankees (1-2), while Konsler came on in relief in the fourth to strike out eight in his two-plus innings of work.
9-10 DIVISION
EB YANKEES 10, INDIANS 5
The Yankees jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings and never looked back, benefiting from five walks and timely RBI hits in doing so.
K. Cannon had a triple and scored a run for the Yankees, while J. Hawthorne and L. Brantley each had an RBI single. J. Hobbs walked three times and scored three runs.
The Indians had three hits, scattered among Miller Hart, M. Suarez and James Carpenter.
D-BACKS 14, EB RED SOX 4
Matt Smith pitched a complete-game four-hitter (two hits coming in the first inning) and struck out 10 to lead the D-Backs to the victory.
Micah Flores aided the winning cause and supported Smith with a pair of RBI doubles and scored three runs. Smith added an RBI single while Joseph Blackburn had a pair of RBIs on a triple and single. K. Jenkins also had a pair of hits for the winners.
The Red Sox got lone singles by Morgan Riley, Marcus Dillard and Chase Hammac, while Christian Nelson added a double.