Brewers christen Taylor Fields with 11-7 victory over Astros and thump Blues 12-6 at North Hill

By Jim Stewart

The Bolton Brewers' bats have gotten as hot as the June weather.

The Brew Crew has pushed 39 runs across the plate in their last five games, which includes an anomalous 0-0 tie in Game 1 of Sunday's rescheduled doubleheader versus the Clarksburg Blues at North Hill Park. In Game 2, the Bolton bats were back to normal in a 12-6 win over the Blues.

The Brewers played their inaugural game at Taylor Fields on Monday night and christened the sparkling new, two-diamond complex with an 11-7 win over the Lisle Astros.

On Monday night versus the Astros, Bolton took their first at-bats at the new ballpark and promptly put seven runs on the board to stake Brewers' starter Matteo Stothers to a 7-0 first inning lead.

Bolton Head Coach Mike Wallace said he was pleased with how his team got out of the gate against Lisle.

“It doesn't get much better than that. We've been hitting the ball really well and we were overdue. Ben Sterritt hit the hardest ball I've ever seen—it was a laser six feet high and it hit the top of the fence. It sparked the biggest inning of the season.”

Coach Wallace also complimented the performance of his starter who subdued the Astros on four days' rest after surrendering just two runs in five innings on Thursday night in Bolton's 7-5 win over Caledon.

“Matteo's definitely the workhorse of the staff. He's going to take the ball and give us quality innings.  If we continue to provide the D and continue to cut back our errors, we'll get our fair share of wins with Matteo on the mound because he puts the ball in play so well.  We only expected four innings out of him on Monday night, and we got six.  He was all over the strike zone—showing great command of his pitches and deserved the W.”

The Brewers' starters have been getting run support in four of the club's last five games and Coach Wallace attributed the heated-up offence to getting reps in the better weather that has swept across Central Ontario in late-May and early-June.

“The lack of Spring ball really put us behind—now they look comfortable in the box, we're definitely a hitting team, and Ben Sterritt and Jack Larmer are really stepping up as our early season offensive leaders.  They contributed to big offensive innings over the last two weeks.”

Following the same bludgeoning strategy used to defeat Lisle on Monday night, the Brewers piled it on early in Game 2 versus the Blues on Sunday afternoon—plating five runs in the first and four runs in the second to build a 9-0 lead en-route to a 12-6 victory.

The Brewers' hitters vented their frustration in the second game of the doubleheader after being kept off the scoreboard in Game 1 in a 0-0 tie.

In Game 2, Bolton's well-balanced attack was led by Amir Juarez with two hits. Carter Burnside scored three runs and Luke Witty and Carson Burns plated two times each in the six-run victory.

Brewers' starter Vic Moguel threw three scoreless innings, Paul Cota tossed two innings of middle relief and got the W, and Stothers earned the two-inning save—striking out three Blues to preserve the club's fourth win of the season.

In Game 1's 0-0 pitching duel, Brewers starter Charlie Hughes made his debut on the bump and threw three scoreless innings. The ever-reliable Stothers kept the Blues off the scoreboard for the remaining four innings to preserve the shutout and earn a point for the club in the NDBL Senior Division standings.

With the win and tie versus Clarksburg, the Brewers evened their regular season record to 4-4-1, moved into a tie for fifth place with the Orillia Majors in the twelve-team NDBL Senior Division, and extended their undefeated streak to four games to level off a rough start to the 2026 season.

A mid-season test for the red-hot Brewers will take place on Sunday, June 14, when they visit the first-place, undefeated New Lowell Knights who are the reigning league champs.

First pitch will be at 1 p.m.