By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
It may have been the Orioles who stormed their way through the Brewton Babe Ruth regular season with a 12-0 record, but it was the fourth-seeded Blue Jays who dominated the league tournament.
The Blue Jays capped off a perfect run to the tournament championship Friday when they came from behind to beat the Orioles 5-4. It was also the Blue Jays who dealt the Orioles their first loss of the season Thursday 8-7.
Thomas Emmons' two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning wiped out what had been a 3-2 lead for the Orioles.
The Blue Jays also got a single and an RBI from Brent Odom and one single from both James Hamric and Jacob Cannon.
Hamric went the first five innings for the win before reliever Taylor Berry closed the door.
The Orioles got two singles and an RBI from Dodson Herrington. Tyler Nall, Bobby Freeman and Tyler Brown all had a single.
Orioles 16, Twins 13
The Orioles wiped out a six-run deficit and then held off the Twins 16-13 in an elimination game Friday.
The Twins had a 12-6 lead until the Orioles rallied with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead.
Tyler Brown had three singles, an RBI and scored two runs to lead the Orioles. James Freeman had a double, a triple and scored two runs. Casey Butts had a double and two RBIs. Wesley Booker and Tyler Cross both had a single and an RBI. Blake Crosby and Aaron Nelson each had a single.
The Twins were led by Jake Smith's two singles, double, one RBI and two runs scored. Caleb Palmer had a single, a double and scored three runs. Seth Holland had two singles, an RBI and scored two runs. Wil Riggs had two singles. Kevin Pace, Robert Knowles and Corey Williams all had a single and scored two runs. Paul Miller and Stephen Warren both had a single.
Thursday's games
Blue Jays 8, Orioles 7
The Orioles may have gone through the Brewton Babe Ruth regular season with an unblemished 12-0 record, but that perfect string ended in their initial contest in the league tournament Thursday when they were upended by the Blue Jays 8-7.
The Blue Jays, who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-3, snapped a 7-7 deadlock in the top of the seventh inning when James Hamric's sacrifice fly drove in Jamar Travis with the go-ahead run.
It was the third RBI of the game for Hamric, who also had two singles. It was also Hamric who picked up the win in relief, as he allowed just one hit over the final two innings.
Mabry Cook added two singles with an RBI for the Blue Jays. Stephen Murphy had a single and an RBI, while Travis had a single.
The Orioles got a single, a triple and two RBIs from Tyler Nall to lead their offense. James Freeman had an RBI double, while Tyler Cross and Wesley Booker each had a single. Tyler Brown contributed an RBI.
Twins 7, Tigers 6
The Twins eliminated the Tigers from the tournament with their second victory over that team in three days.
The Tigers held a 6-5 lead headed into the bottom of the sixth inning until the Twins' Kevin Pace tied it with an RBI single and Jake Smith's RBI single snapped the tie.
The Twins picked up a two-run double from Corey Williams. Pace had a pair of singles and two RBIs. Seth Holland had two singles and an RBI. Jake Smith had an RBI single.
Holland worked two hitless and scoreless innings of relief to grab the win.
Tigers got a single from Justin Payne, Colby Franks, Houston Simmons and Roy Brown. John Mathieu and Nick Moore both picked up an RBI, while Chase Crosby drove in two runs.
Tuesday's games
Blue Jays 11, Twins 7
The Blue Jays pulled away in the late innings in a winners bracket matchup with the Twins.
The Blue Jays had just a 3-2 lead until they racked up a three spot in the top of the fifth inning and four more runs one inning later.
Mabry Cook had a pair of singles, an RBI and scored two runs to lead the Blue Jays. Thomas Emmons had a single and three RBIs. Brent Odom had a single and two RBIs. Taylor Berry had a single and scored two runs. James Hamric had a single and an RBI. Jake Hunsinger and Stephen Murphy both had a single. Jamar Travis scored two runs.
Cook went the first five innings where he struck out three and allowed six hits for the win.
The Twins got a single, a double and an RBI from Corey Williams. Jake Smith had a single, an RBI and scored two runs. Stephen Warren had a pair of singles, a double and three RBIs. Derek Busby had a single, a double and an RBI. Seth Holland and Kevin Pace each added a single.
Tigers 14, Red Sox 10
The Tigers bounced back from an 18-1 loss to the Twins in round one with a come-from-behind win over the Red Sox in the elimination bracket.
The Red Sox had a 6-4 lead until the Twins tied it with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth
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and took the lead with a three-run uprising in the fifth.
John Mathieu had a big game for the Tigers, as he had four singles, scored four runs and had two RBIs. Cody Swain had two singles and scored two runs. Colby Franks had a pair of singles and an RBI. Chase Crosby had a triple, an RBI and scored two runs. Kyle Baggett and Matt Madden both had a single.
Justin Payne went the first four innings to get the win.
The Red Sox got a single, a double and an RBI from Grant DeFrancisco. Will Waters and Sam Sharpe both had a pair of singles and scored two runs. Garrett Robinson had a triple and scored two runs. Chris Griffin had a single and scored two runs. Jake Hodge had an RBI.
Despite the loss, the Red Sox turned in the biggest defensive play of the tournament when they reeled in a 9-6-3 triple play with the combination of DeFrancisco to Robinson to Waters.