By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
It may be individual superstars who usually grab the headlines, but team success is usually a combined effort.
It was the team effort philosophy that powered the Brewton American Legion Post 79 baseball team to a doubleheader sweep at Covington County Friday, as it cruised to an 11-5 victory in the opener and a 11-2 triumph in game two.
Post 79 got four stellar innings out of starter Allen Williams in the opener before he ran out of gas in the fifth. The doubleheader was two five-inning games.
Williams threw just 34 pitches and had a one-hit shutout as well as an 11-0 lead going into the bottom of fifth inning. The righthander was unable to shut the door though, as a walk, a hit batter and four singles in the bottom of the fifth drove in five runs and prompted Turner to bring in Becker Denton to close the door.
Brewton made Williams job a lot easier when it gave him a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Post 79 had only two hits in that frame, an infield single by Justin Smith and a line drive RBI single by Chris Graham off Covington County pitcher Taylor Banton, but was aided by three walks and two errors.
An RBI triple by Jacob Salter and an RBI single by Daniel Hodge took that lead to 7-0 in the top of the third inning. Graham, who had three hits in the opener, and Salter both had RBI singles in the fourth inning that made it 9-0 and Baxley Raines drilled a two-run single in the top of the fifth that took the advantage to 11-0.
In addition to the three hits and two RBIs by Graham, Post 79 also got two singles from Justin Smith, a single, a double and two RBIs by Raines, a single, a triple and two RBIs by Salter, a single and an RBI by both Hodge and Denton, a double by Jordan Ball and a single by Jordan Cauley.
Three Post 79 hurlers, starter Alex Granade along with relievers Graham and Ball, combined on a one-hitter in the game two win. A single by Charlie Gordon off Granade in the top of the third inning was Covington County's lone hit.
While the final result was similar to game one, Brewton's path to victory in game two was much different.
Post 79 had just a 3-2 lead headed into the top of the fourth inning when it erupted for eight runs.
Brewton had originally built a 3-0 lead thanks to an RBI triple by Salter and a sacrifice fly by Hodge in the second inning and Granade scored during a rundown in the top of the third inning.
Covington County cut that gap to just one run in the bottom of the third inning with the aid of a walk, Gordon's single, a run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI fielder's choice by Bobby Fleming.
Brewton sent 12 batters of the plate in its eight-run fourth inning. That frame began with three straight Covington County errors on balls hit by Graham, Joseph Turner and Salter that produced a run. Hodge picked up his second and third RBIs of the game on a two-run single that made it 6-2. Covington County committed its fourth error of the inning on Denton's RBI single. The error allowed a second run to score that made it 8-2.
After Smith doubled, Cauley smoked a two-run single that made it 10-2 and a wild pitch moments later scored Smith that accounted for the final run.
Denton had a single, a double and an RBI to lead Post 79. Salter had a triple and an RBI. Cauley had a single and drove in a pair. Hodge had a single and three RBIs. Smith had a double, while Granade, Ball and Raines all had a single.
Brewton had dropped a 6-3 decision to Covington County Wednesday at L.B. Wallace College Wednesday.
Covington County had only four hits, but benefited from seven walks, three wild pitches and a passed ball.
That contest was tied at 1-1 until Covington County snapped the deadlock with a four-run bottom of the fourth
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inning.
Jakes Bonds had a pair of singles to lead Brewton, while Chad McCall had a two-run single. Williams and Turner each added a single.
Post 79 and Covington County will hook up for a third straight date Tuesday, this time at Pleasant Home High School, for a 6 p.m. doubleheader. Brewton will make its home debut Wednesday when it hosts Wiregrass in a 1 p.m. twinbill at Jefferson Davis Community College.
Wednesday's game
Brewton 000 120 0 – 3 5 2
Covington Co. 100 401 X – 6 4 1
Friday's first game
Brewton 502 22 – 11 13 1
Covington Co. 000 05 – 5 5 3
Second game
Brewton 021 80 – 11 9 1
Covington Co. 002 00 – 2 1 5