That means the Braves will next play the Rays at noon Saturday in the Whitefish Bay Little League Majors double elimination playoffs.
A combination of the tournament scheduler and a rainout pushed the Braves into a challenging pitching position. A pitcher who throws more than 19 pitches in a game must rest from pitching the next day. With that in mound, Coach Ross had a strict pitch count on some of our players.
The Braves were the home team. Alec started on the mound, but was relieved by Will after 19 pitches with two outs and the Braves down 1-0. Will threw strikes, but a couple of Braves errors let in 2 more runs. In the bottom of the first inning, Matt walked with one out and stole second. Alec singled into center field. When Matt tried to score on the hit, he was thrown out a home on a close play, the first of several defensive stops the Brewers turned. 3-0, Brewers.
The Brewers scratched out another run in the top of the second to go up 4-0. Tyler made a fine catch in center field during that inning.
In the bottom of the second, Will and Tyler started a two-out rally with walks. Scott beat out an infield single to load the bases. Will scored the first run on a wild pitch. Then Anthony singled through the right side to drive in two runs. After two, the score was Brewers 4, Braves 3.
In the top of third, the Brewers scratched out another run to go up 5-3. They might have scored more, but Matt made a head's up play. With a Brewers runner on first, the batter hit a hard grounder that bounced off shortstop Alec as he tried to grab. Second baseman Matt alertly grabbed the ball in the air and stepped on second base for a forceout, ending the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the third, the Brewers pitcher hit Nick in the side with a hard fastball. We could hear the sickening thud in the bleachers. Nick glared at the pitcher briefly before running down to first base. Matt then singled, with Nick dashing to third base and rounding the bag just in case of a miscue. Alec then hit a deep fly out to right field. Nick scored easily on the sacrifice fly, and Matt, zooming around the bases, alertly scored as well, knotting the score at 5. Connor doubled to center field, but the Braves couldn't bring him in.
In the top of the 4th, with Will continuing on the mound, all four Brewers batters hit the ball at shortstop Alec, who caught two liners and threw out the final batter at first. In the bottom of the first, Evan reach on a single past the shortstop, but an unusual 6-3-5 double play snuffed out the scoring threat.
In the top of the 5th, Evan took the mound. Like Will, he is a pitch-to-contact hurler who pounds the strike zone. The first two batters singled, then Evan struck out the next one. A fly out to Connor in left field and a fly ball to Alec at third ended the threat, with the score still 5-5.
Scott led off the bottom of the 5th with a single through the right side. Anthony walked, and with one out Liam walked to load the bases. Nick, with his side still hurting from the pitch that hit him, ripped a single into center field, scoring Scott with what would be the winning run. 6-5, Braves.
Connor took the mound on the top of the 6th. He struck out the first batter. The next batter hit an infield fly that second baseman Nick ranged to his left to catch. Connor struck out the final batter to end the game.
Coaches awarded the game ball to Will for giving the Braves three strong innings on the mound.
In post-game remarks, both Coach Ross and Will exhorted the team to come out more alert and prepared Saturday against the Rays.
We parents probably shouldn't forget that tonight's game was the Braves' first game in a whole week. I fully expect the boys to sharp on Saturday.
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