By Brandon Sumrall / Special to the Advertiser

With a 9-3 win by Maplesville over Billingsley in Game 1, it was Mother Nature that won in Game 2, as a downpour brought an early end for the evening to Game 2.

Stranded runners cost the Bears in Game 1 and the theme started early as a two-out strikeout left three Billingsley runners stranded in the first.

Billingsley’s Walker Motley walked and a bunt by Larry Starks was proceeded by two consecutive outs for the Bears.

The Red Devils were the first team on the board in the home half of the second inning with two runs on the board.

A leadoff single by Devan Wallace and a double by Trevor Wallace gave Maplesville two on with no outs.

Devan Wallace scored on a wild pitch, while Trevor Wallace later scored on a bunt by Adam Harrison to give the Red Devils a 2-0 lead.

A Cole Donaldson single and a walk to Logan Gilmore did nothing to help the Bears while Maplesville tacked on four more runs in the bottom half of the fourth.

Back-to-back singles by Thomas Schoener and Drew Smith put one run on the board while consecutive walks by Devan and Trevor Wallace set up a base-clearing three RBI double by Aaron Dunkin to extend the Maplesville lead to 6-0.

Jamie Barnett started the top of the fourth by reaching base after being hit by a pitch and a walk to Eric Willis put two aboard with one out.

A two out double by Noah Godwin scored both Willis and Barnett while Godwin later scored on a Red Devils error to cut the Maplesville lead to three.

A walk to Drew Smith was all the offense for the Red Devils in the home half of the fourth while a two out double by Willis and a walk to Dubose resulted in no change in the score.

The game moved to the bottom of the fifth with Maplesville leading 6-3.

A leadoff single by Devin Wallace set up a two-run homerun by Trevor Wallace and with Thaddeus Hunter scoring on a wild pitch after reaching on a double, the Red Devils extended their lead to six, 9-3.

One walk in the sixth and two in the seventh provided no help toward the Bears’ cause as the Red Devils picked up the win in Game 1 of the best of three series.

A 2-for-2 performance with a double, home run, and two RBIs for Trevor Wallace led Maplesville at the plate in Game 1.

Wallace also handled the pitching duties for the Red Devils and threw a complete game with two earned runs on nine hits, 11 walks, as well as 14 strikeouts.

Godwin led the Bears at the plate with a 1-for-4 performance with a double and two RBIs.

Willis pitched a complete game for Billingsley as well with eight earned runs on nine hits, with five walks, while striking out 10.

The scoring started early in Game 2 as the Red Devils picked up three runs in the top of the first inning.

A leadoff single by Schoener and a Billingsley error on a ground ball by Drew Smith gave Maplesville two base runners with no outs. A ground rule double by Alex Smith scored Schoener while Drew later scored on a wild pitch.

An RBI single by Trevor Wallace scored Alex Smith to give Maplesville a 3-0 lead.

Willis started the bottom half of the first with a walk while Dubose reached on a hit by pitch, but two consecutive outs would bring a close to the first inning.

A two out single by Schoener set up an RBI double by Drew Smith and with a RBI single by Alex Smith, as the Red Devils extended their lead to five.

Maplesville pitcher Alex Smith retired the Bears in order through the bottom of the second inning while the Red Devil bats pick up two more in the top of the third. Walks to Aaron Dunkin and Trent Smith led to two more Maplesville runs on a Bears error off the bat of Alex Smith to make the score 7-0.

With a two out double to Willis and Dubose reaching after being hit by a pitch again, a fly ball to left brought the inning to a close and a downpour brought the game to a close.

With play postponed in the top of the fourth inning for the evening, Game 2 is scheduled to resume play tomorrow at noon with Game 3 to follow, if needed.