Bolton Brewers sweep Orillia from playoffs with narrow 2-1 victory

By Jim Stewart

In windy but ideal mid-summer conditions at North Hill Park on Saturday afternoon, the Bolton Brewers edged the Orillia Majors 2-1 to sweep their best-of-five NDBL quarter-final series.

Bolton starter Nate Drury provided a four-strikeout, complete-game performance for the Brewers on an afternoon when Bolton's league-leading offense was limited to nine hits over six innings.  Drury, who was the hitting hero in a 19-3 thrashing of the Majors on Thursday night, delineated the keys to the Game 3 victory.

“Our approach to our at-bats today was very good. We were swinging at strikes and we were getting hits. Unfortunately, we left guys in scoring position when we didn't get the big hit and their pitcher [Majors' starter Cam Provenzano] did really well today, too.”

The versatile two-way Brewer credited his teammates for the narrow win over the Majors.

“Our defense was the key to our win today. I felt our defense was behind me so I could pitch to contact.  I didn't strike out many batters today so the guys made big plays in the infield and the outfield. Brett Chater made that snow cone catch at shortstop and Dan Amodeo made a circus catch in centerfield on a ball that dropped on him by a couple of feet. He saved a run with that catch. Our defense won the game.” 

Brewers' catcher Carter Burnside returned to the lineup after Thursday's absence due to the lingering effects of a cortisone shot. After drawing a one-out walk, Burnside scored Bolton's first run in the bottom of the first on John Hutchinson's groundout RBI to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers took a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth when their offence seemed to wake up with three consecutive hard-hit singles to start the inning. Mario Accardo's game-winning RBI between first and second plated Logan Hart, but the Brewers squandered a bases-loaded situation that could have put the game away.

Provenzano, who turned in a complete game for the Majors, pitched out of trouble to limit the damage against Bolton's high-octane offense. He got Chater—a brilliant and productive leadoff hitter all season-- to pop up to the catcher and he induced the red-hot Burnside to ground into a double play to end the Brewers' threat midway through the game.

Drury and his defense continued to hold the Majors at bay, particularly at the top of the fourth when Amodeo made a sensational catch in medium centerfield on a wind-buffeted ball, leftfielder Logan Hart snared a line drive down the third base line to take away an extra-base hit, and Drury helped himself by spearing a comebacker to keep the Majors off the scoreboard.

At the top of the fifth, Drury flashed the leather on another Majors shot heading up the middle and promptly struck out the next two Majors to get the Brewers' potent bats back to the plate. However, the Brewers left two more runners in scoring position and more defensive heroics were needed to support a stalled offense.

At the top of six, Drury took care of business by striking out Brett Beardsall on a perfect off-speed pitch, and Chater climbed the ladder at shortstop to make a highlight reel, snow cone catch. Drury induced a lineout to Brewer second baseman Greg Keenan to stifle another prospective uprising by the Majors and preserve the precarious 2-0 lead.

The end-of-game sequence was equally-suspenseful. Orillia keyed a two-out rally at the top of the seventh when Mark Griffiths hit a slow chopper down the third base line.  A wild throw by Brewers' third baseman Amin Juarez beyond first baseman John Hutchinson ricocheted down the first baseline and scored Orillia pinch-runner Blake Faulds to cut Bolton's lead to one. However, Drury was unfazed by the E5 and induced Dylan Embury to pop out to Chater in shallow left field to end the “knee-knocker at North Hill.”

The low-scoring contest was in stark contrast to the first two games of the series which produced an 11-4 win by the Brewers in Orillia on Tuesday night and a 19-3 shellacking administered by Bolton on the visitors on Thursday night.  Drury was the hitting hero in the mercy-shortened Game 2 with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored.  His work in the batters' box and basepaths was praised by Brewers' Head Coach Mike Wallace.

“Nate Drury had a fabulous game.  He was hitting the balls on the screws all night.  He's our ‘Swiss Army Knife' as a super utility player.  He's had some bad ball luck this season at the plate so he earned those big knocks and RBI's tonight.”

Coach Wallace also applauded Mateo Stothers who supplied a complete game, five-inning quality start after his 156-pitch marathon versus Owen Sound to clinch the NDBL pennant.

“Mateo had more than a week's rest.  He was pretty fresh for his start tonight and pitched really well for us. Mateo also weathered some 15-minute breaks when we were scoring runs in bunches in the first four innings.”

Stothers struck out three Majors in five innings of work and was supported by a buzz saw Brewers' offense that scored 7 runs in the first, 3 runs in the second, 5 runs in the third, and 4 runs in the fourth to invoke the NDBL mercy rule on Thursday night.

The pennant-winning Brewers—with their three-game sweep of the Majors-- will wait for the results of the other NDBL series to determine their second round, best-of-five semi-final opponent.