When Virginia Joy reached first base after a single in the second inning Wednesday night, fans of the Cape Coral National Rookie League Braves rose to their feet and cheered wildly. Fans of the opposing Brewers did, too.

Even as both teams chased the championship of the league tournament at Jason Verdow Park, the sides routinely showed support for all the participating players (ages 7-8), many of which are in the beginning stages of learning the game.

Remaining neutral was the pitching machine. Both the Braves and Brewers took turns hammering away for four innings, accounting for 32 hits and 21 runs.

The Brewers’ Cory Williamson capped off the slugfest with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. It drove Theo Swartz home from second, giving the Brewers an 11-10 victory and the tournament title.

“At this point, it’s flip a coin,” Braves manager Steve Hunt said. “With 7-8 year-olds, they’re prone to have on and off days.”

“Anything can happen,” Brewers manager Dan Freed agreed. “All the teams are pretty even.”

Though the results were mixed throughout the regular season, the Brewers emerged at the right time. They went undefeated through the double-elimination tournament which began May 15.

They defeated the Giants, 6-3, and Phillies, 13-4, along the way, before getting their clinching victory over the Braves.

The Braves took a more adventurous path, falling in the opening tournament game to the Giants, 6-5, before winning three games in the loser’s bracket against the Cubs, 3-1, Giants, 11-0, and Phillies, 7-5.

Given the Braves’ momentum and the Brewers’ consistent play in the tournament, the stage was set for an exciting battle Wednesday.

In the top of the first inning, Andrew Jaffarian led off with a single and the Braves grabbed a 1-0 lead on Ben Hunt’s RBI single.

The Brewers then went to work in the bottom of the first. They brought 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs. Jeffery Bitzer, Cole Hemphill, Tyler Freed, Michael De La Cruz and Swartz each drove in a run.

The Braves came back with three runs in the top of the second, including an RBI double by Julian Vazquez, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

The hitting continued in the bottom of the second when Cory Williamson, Bryce Williamson, Frankie Brea and Bitzer smacked four consecutive doubles for the Brewers. It helped score five runs and extend the Brewers’ lead to 10-4.

As the game progressed, outs became increasingly important in limiting the offensive damage.

In the top of the third, the Braves scored three runs to cut it to 10-7, but the Brewers got two big defensive plays to finish the inning. Caleb Didra fielded a grounder at third and tagged a runner, and shortstop Trevor Freed handled a grounder and stepped on second for the final out.

In the bottom of the third, the Brewers failed to score for the first time. Two batters struck out, and the Braves’ Conner Buck, fielding the pitcher’s mound, made a stop and putout.

Needing three runs to tie, the Braves got what they needed in the top of the fourth courtesy of a two-run double by Jaffarian and an RBI single by Buck. As Buck was tagged out trying to stretch his base-hit into a double, Jaffarian crossed the plate in time to make it 10-10.

The Brewers responded once again in the bottom of the fourth. Swartz and Chase Scimeca singled, and Cory Williamson finished it off with a liner to left-field.



CCN Braves 133 3 — 10 15 2

CCN Brewers 550 1 — 11 17 2

2B — Julian Vazquez (Braves), Andrew Jaffarian (Braves), Cory Williamson (Brewers), Bryce Williamson (Brewers), Frankie Brea (Brewers), Jeffery Bitzer (Brewers), Trevor Freed (Brewers).