By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Two down and two more to go for the East Brewton Little League 11-year-old all-stars.
East Brewton secured a spot in the district tournament championship round Monday when it ousted Covington County 13-2 in four innings.
It was East Brewton's
second win of the tournament against Covington County. It also notched a 5-0 win in Saturday's opening round.
Just like the first encounter where East Brewton plated three runs in the opening inning and never trailed, it did the same in Monday's rematch. Unlike the first game where East Brewton struggled to deliver the knockout punch, it did so Monday with an eight-run second inning that put it in firm control with an 11-0 lead.
Dalton Evans provided the big hit of the opening frame when he tripled home Camryn Blackman and Hunter Mullins.
East Brewton sent a dozen batters to the plate in the second inning. Evans again played a key role with his second double in as many innings, this one an RBI two-bagger. Sa'Core McCants came up with the biggest hit of the inning and perhaps the game when he smacked a three-run double.
Brian Settle went the distance on a four-hitter and struck out to get the win for East Brewton. Three of the four hits he allowed came in the third inning when Covington County scored both of its runs to drop the lead below the 10-run rule barrier.
East Brewton got the lead back to plateau in the top of the fourth when it scored twice without the aid of a hit and stretched its lead to 13-2.
East Brewton met Brewton in Tuesday's championship round. East Brewton needs to beat Brewton to win the championship, while Brewton needs only one win in the series. If a second and decisive game is needed, it will be played at 7 p.m. today.
At Andalusia
East Brewton 380 2 - 13 9 2
Covington Co. 002 0 – 2 4 6
Saturday's game
East Brewton pitcher Hunter Mullins did not need a whole lot of offensive support in Saturday's 5-0 first-round win over Covington County. Mullins scattered five hits and struck out five in a complete game shutout.
East Brewton got the only runs it really needed in the bottom of the first inning when it plated three against Covington County pitcher Zach Ward.
Free passes in the opening inning were Ward's downfall. He issued back-to-back walks to Keaton Ward and Camryn Blackman to start the inning. While Ward fanned the next two batters he faced, he ran into more control problems when he walked Mullins and uncorked two run-scoring wild pitches. The only hit East Brewton got in the inning was a key one, as Trent Wright's RBI single made it 3-0.
East Brewton was not able to dent the scoreboard again until the bottom of the fifth. Blackman beat out an infield single and stole second. After Brian Settle reached on a
fielder's choice where nobody was retired, Dalton Evans
was hit by a pitch to load
the bases. Mullins walked, which forced Blackman home to make it 4-0. Shawn Lucas got another run in with an RBI groundout.
At Andalusia
Covington Co. 000 000 - 0 5 1
E. Brewton 300 02X - 5 5 1