Brewton Cal Ripken games come down to final innings
Published 9:11 am Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday night proved one of the more exciting nights of baseball at the YMCA SportsPark and East Brewton Park, as all five games played in the Cal Ripken League were decided in the final innings.
For the second straight night, the Yankees won in extra innings. On Monday in the 11-12 Division, the Yankees followed their Friday night, seven-inning, 10-7 win over the East Brewton Giants with a heart-stopping, 8-7 extra-inning victory over the Flomaton Canes. In the late game of the same age division, the East Brewton Phillies needed two extra innings to defeat the Brewton Phillies 12-6. Over in East Brewton, the Orioles scored four final-inning runs and held on to defeat the East Brewton Giants, 10-9.
In the 9-10 Division, both games were decided in the last at-bat. The league-leading Indians survived against the East Brewton Red Sox, 15-14, and the East Brewton Yankees edged the D’Backs, 10-9.
11-12 DIVISION
YANKEES 8, FLOMATON CANES 7 (7 Innings.)
In a game that saw 27 strikeouts, a home run, and a three-relay throw-out at the plate in the extra inning, the Monday game was eventually decided by a hit ball that travelled all of about 10 feet and scored the tying and game-winning runs for the Yankees in the bottom of the seventh inning.
And on a night when a lot of players stepped up to help in the victory, Preston Townsend stood above them all. In only his second action on the mound this season, Townsend relieved starter Joshua Winton (who allowed four hits while striking out six) in the fourth and allowed just two hits and two runs while striking out seven to get the win.
But it was his bat that made the biggest difference. Down 6-5 in the fifth, Townsend crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left centerfield fence to tie it up and send it to the extra inning. In the seventh, Townsend was also part of a four-man relay that got the biggest out of the game after Hayden Hammond crushed a double in the right-field gap with a runner at first. Center fielder Troy Lewis threw to Baylen Parker, who relayed it to Townsend, who then threw to Winton, who blocked the plate and made the tag for the first out. Later, with the bases loaded, a strikeout ended the inning and set up the winning runs.
Jason Konsler led the bottom of the seventh off with a single, Townsend followed with a double in the gap and, with two outs, Hayden Atkinson then dribbled a hit down the third base line. Konsler scored and as the ball was thrown away at the plate, Townsend came around to score the winning run from second.
Along with Townsend’s two hits, Joshua Winton, Konsler, Ty McFerrin (two RBIs).and Caleb Winton all had RBI singles, while Steven McCall, Joseph Nance and Baylen Parker also had hits.
EB PHILLIES 12, PHILLIES 6 (8 Innings)
After the East Brewton Phillies let a 6-1 lead evaporate into a 6-all tie, it took two extra innings to determine the winner. The EB Phillies scored six in the top of the eighth then got three strikeouts in the bottom of the inning to finally claim the win.
The Phillies had a chance to win it in the bottom of the sixth when Drew Williamson hit a two-out triple, but was stranded when Joseph Booker forced a groundout to end the inning.
EB had taken a 6-1 lead early, scoring a run in the first, three in the third and two more in the fourth, but watched as the Brewton Phillies sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth to knot it at 6-6. In that inning, a walk and two errors loaded the bases before Daniel Blair, Adam Holmes, Williamson and Lane Clark all had run-scoring singles to tie the game.
Booker then came on for EB Phillies and struck out eight in his four innings of relief, allowing only Williamson’s sixth-inning triple. In the deciding eighth, four walks, an error and timely hits pushed six runs across to finally put it out of reach.
In that inning C. Taylor had an RBI double and Booker a two-run single. Of East Brewton’s six hits, Booker and Matt Hutchins had a pair of singles each, while Taylor and Fore each had singles.
Brewton was paced by Williamson’s pair of triples and a single. Adam Holmes, Clark and Blair had the only other hits.
ORIOLES 10, EB GIANTS 9
In a wild back-and-forth game, the Orioles (10-2) scored four runs in the top of the sixth and held on to win the game on a strikeout in the bottom of the sixth with the tying run standing on second base.
After the two teams see-sawed with the lead for five innings – it was tied 6-6 going into the sixth – Andrew Etheridge started a firestorm that kicked off a four-run rally that led to the win. Etheridge crushed a double to lead off the deciding inning. Kishon Patel followed with a walk. After a strikeout, Jordan Williams was hit by a pitch before Hunter Brittain and Stokes Jennings each recorded RBI singles to make it 8-6. Clutch-hitting Russell Smith then chased two more runs home with a single.
In the bottom of the inning, though, the Orioles had to hold on for dear life as the Giants scored three times. TyShaun Davis doubled home a run that make it 10-9, but he was stranded there as Jennings stood tall to strikeout Blake McGraw for the final out.
Brittain led the 12-hit attack with three hits, including a double, while Williams (3B), Smith (2B) and Jennings had two each. Etheridge, Gunter and Daniel Reed had the other hits.
YANKEES 10, EB GIANTS 7 (7 Innings)
In a game played last Friday, the Yankees were faced with two outs and nobody on in the top of the extra inning when Joshua Winton – who was 4-for-4 on the night – kicked off a three-run rally with a double as the Yankees went on to win 10-7.
After Winton’s second double of the night, Jason Konsler singled him home. Preston Townsend followed with a walk, and Ty McFerrin promptly drove a two-run triple down the right-field line that proved the final nail in the coffin for the Yankees, who recorded 16 hits.
Winton and Konsler combined for the win on the mound, allowing just four total hits while striking out 15. Winton yielded three of the hits and struck out eight, while Konsler came on with two outs in the fifth and allowed just one lone hit while striking out eight of the 10 he faced to get the win.
While Winton was rapping out four hits and a pair of RBIs, Konsler was 3-for-3. Townsend had two hits, with a double, while Steven McCall also had two hits. Caleb Winton added an RBI double, while Hayden Atkinson, Austin Rowell and Troy Lewis each contributed singles.
9-10 DIVISION
EB YANKEES 10, D’BACKS 9
Facing a 7-1 deficit in the fourth inning, the Yankees made the most of nine walks and one lone hit over the final two innings to score nine runs and escape with the win. In all, the Yankees drew 16 walks and had just three hits on the night.
Down 10-9 with the bases loaded and just one out, the D’Backs could not manage to get the tying run to the plate. A strikeout ended the threat and the game.
Yankee leadoff hits Jacoby Hawthorne led his team with a pair of singles and two walks to score three times, while Jennings Hobbs had the eventual game-winning hit in the top of the fifth for his only single, which scored Hawthorne.
The D’Backs were led by Matt Smith, who had a pair of singles and scored twice, while Joseph Blackburn and Jaxson Flores added one hit each.
INDIANS 15, EB RED SOX 14
In a scorefest, Trentez Johnson came up with the biggest hit of the game when his single in the bottom of the final inning scored Miller Hart with the game-winning run. Hart had drawn a leadoff walk, went to second on Lyon Jernigan’s hit, then scored when Johnson slapped a hit past the infield.
The win helped the Indians recover from relinquishing a 6-1 lead after the first inning when the Red Sox rebounded to retake the lead with an 11-run second inning. Down 12-6 at that point, the Indians regrouped to score seven in the second inning before getting the two they needed in the final frame to win.
As it turned out, the hits by Jernigan and Johnson were the only two for the Indians, who benefitted from 20 walks.
The Red Sox, who drew nine walks of their own, got a triple from Morgan Riley, a two-run single from Tyler Pierce and two RBI singles from Marcus Dillard.