By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Even though East Brewton entered the bottom of the sixth inning ahead by a run, Opp had one big advantage on its side. It got to bat last.
Opp took advantage of that opportunity, as it plated both the tying and winning runs for a marathon 22-21 slugfest in Monday's second-round matchup of Age 9-10 district tournament play at Opp.
Both teams may have found pulling teeth easier than getting outs Monday. In addition to the 43 runs they combined to score, the teams combined for 23 hits, 35 walks and 64 total baserunners.
In addition to the fact the loss dropped it into the elimination bracket, the loss was a difficult one for East Brewton to swallow because it lost leads of 6-0, 11-3, 16-10 and 21-20.
East Brewton had that initial advantage after it batted in the top of the first inning thanks largely to an RBI double by Keith Bradley and singles by Dillon Anthony, Logan Williamson and Hayden Cooper.
A five-run top of the third inning enabled East Brewton to take its biggest lead of the game at 11-3 although it had just one hit in that frame, a single by Taylor Ballard.
The complexion of the game probably started to change in the bottom of the third inning when Opp rallied for seven runs and cut East Brewton's once sizeable lead to just 11-10.
One inning later the lead was completely gone, as Opp racked up nine more runs and moved in front 19-16.
East Brewton's third consecutive five-run inning in the top of the fifth put it back in front 21-19 thanks largely to a triple by Ben Bounds and singles by Cooper, Anthony and Reid Johnson.
Opp got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning and pulled within 21-20. It then gave itself a good chance to win when it held East Brewton scoreless in the top of the sixth inning. That marked just the second time in the game a team (both times East Brewton) failed to score.
Opp's JoJo Jones drew the game's 35th walk (18 by East Brewton and 17 by Opp) to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Tyler Weeks ripped a double into the right-centerfield gap that moved Jones over to third base. Hunter Roser grounded out to East Brewton first baseman Logan Williamson, but that plated Jones with the tying run to make it 21-21.
East Brewton coach James Carroll opted to relieve pitcher Keith Bradley, who had worked the previous three innings, in favor of Williamson.
On a 1-1 count to Hunter Coon, Williamson uncorked a wild pitch that scored Roser with the winning run.
It marked the second straight game East Brewton's contest had been decided on a wild pitch.
East Brewton was on the winning side of a wild pitch in Sunday's first-round 6-5 victory over arch rival Brewton.
With the score deadlocked at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning, East Brewton's Keith Bradley walked and eventually scored the game's winning run on a wild pitch that capped off an exciting finish.
That did not look to be the case early on when East Brewton built a 4-0 lead in the first two innings. Dillon Anthony doubled and scored on an error in the bottom of the first inning.
East Brewton added three runs to that total in the second inning through a single by Logan Williamson, walks to Dalton Evans and Hayden Cooper, a single by Anthony and an error on a ball hit by Bradley.
Brewton cut that lead in half in the top of the third inning without the aid of a hit, as Louis Miller reached on an error and both Collin Graves and Kameron Winn both walked with a couple of wild pitches thrown in between.
Wesley Maddox's RBI single scored Parker Reiss in the top of the fourth inning and a wild pitch allowed Graves to score in the top of the fifth inning that brought Brewton even at 4-4.
East Brewton regained a 5-4 edge in the bottom of the fifth inning when Johnson reached on an error, Taylor Ballard walked, Williamson singled and Dalton Evans walked.
East Brewton winning pitcher Hayden Cooper went the distance on a three-hitter, but one of those hits, a single by Miller, scored Langford in the top of the sixth inning that pulled Brewton even again at 5-5.
Sunday's game
Brewton 002 111 – 5 3 2
East Brewton 130 011 – 6 6 1
Monday's game
East Brewton 605 550 – 21 11 5
Opp 217 912 – 22 12 3
NOTE: Both Brewton and East Brewton played elimination bracket games Tuesday. Brewton took on Evergreen, while East Brewton faced off against Covington County.
If both teams won, they will meet again today at 6 p.m.