It took two wins over Wharton, but East Bernard swept them to win the 7/8U baseball District Championship in Bay City on Monday night.
East Bernard had to come from behind to beat Wharton 4-3 in game two, to keep it from a deciding game three on Tuesday night.
Wharton started the night with three runs in the top of the first to jump in front.
East Bernard’s Jaxson Breazeale got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, hitting an inside-the-park home run. East Bernard followed with a triple from Thomas Clifton, but he’d get left stranded.
The East Bernard defense put the following six Wharton batters down in order.
East Bernard’s offense found some two-out magic in the bottom of the third inning. With a runner on first and two outs, Kent Manley doubled to make it 3-2. Wyatt Kukowski followed with a triple to tie the game and Logan Wiesner broke the tie with a double.
Wharton threatened in the top of the fifth getting two singles, but an out on the base paths ended the danger. East Bernard held for the win.
In game one East Bernard outhit Wharton 20 to 15 with five marron batters getting two hits a piece.
East Bernard’s run through district was undefeated with six wins and an area championship.
East Bernard outscored 75-27.
Wharton after dropping the first game during area play reeled off six wins in a row to advance to the district championship.
El Campo and Boling were also in the 7/8U bracket.
El Campo won the district championship with a 4-0 record. El Campo beat Brazos 20-4 to secure the title in East Bernard on Saturday.
El Campo’s offense started strong and didn’t relent run-ruling Brazos in three innings.
Brazos started the game with two one-out singles, but El Campo’s defense held and stranded both runners. El Campo’s offense barrage started quickly in the bottom half of the inning with Emory Bermea hitting a lead-off inside the park home run. With one out and a runner on, El Campo pounded out five straight hits from Mabry Tarver, Jamie Clark, Andi Tomanek and Elizabeth Matus to quickly make it 5-0. El Campo closed the inning with a pair of doubles from Jesslyn Ramirez and Alessia Velazquez to put them up by seven.
Brazos added a pair of runs in the second and third. El Campo’s offense kept charging scoring 13 runs in the final two innings to finish the game.
In the four games, El Campo outscored teams 63-16.
Also in the bracket were Boling and East Bernard.
The rest of the District 18 tournament was slated to start Friday night, but due to the recent weather in the area games have been pushed back until Monday.
Wharton County will have teams competing in six different divisions during the 2025 season.
In the minors softball bracket, Boling and El Campo will have teams competing. El Campo and East Bernard will have teams in the majors bracket.
In the baseball 10/11U bracket East Bernard and El Campo will vie for the district title. All four county little leagues will have teams in the minors bracket. In the majors bracket, East Bernard, Wharton and Boling will be competing. Boling will be the only county team representing the area in the juniors bracket.