Brew crew slugs their way back into Strother Cup

Written By JAKE COURTEPATTE

For the second straight season, the Bolton Brewers will vie for the Strother Cup as the champions of the North Dufferin Baseball League.

They closed out their first-to-six-points semifinal series with the New Lowell Knights in five games on Sunday, earning wins in three of the final four games to earn the chance to face the Ivy Leafs in September's championship series.

After a three-game sweep of the Midland Mariners in the opening round, game one saw the Brewers falter for the first time in a 3 – 2 loss, with all three runs against stemming from a home run from New Lowell's Sid Beelen. John Hutchinson's two-run blast constituted the scoring for the Brewers.

A pair of cancellations due to weather conditions on Wednesday and Thursday meant a tight weekend schedule, with game two moved to Thursday in Bolton. The Brewers bounced back with a 12 – 3 win thanks to Mike Wallace, Chris Fafalios, and Stephen Warden each hitting one over the fence, with Andrew White earning the win on the mound.

Brendan Lyons helped the Brewers to their first lead in the series with a win on the mound in game three, his first of the year in a 7 – 3 score. Fafalios went yard for his second straight game with a two-run home run in the fourth.

A doubleheader on Sunday in Bolton saw the Knights keep the series alive in a 6 – 6 game four tie, though needing only a tie in game five to advance, the Brewers put the series away in a 5 – 2 game five win.

Bolton will have their hands full when the final series opens up on Sept. 8, facing an Ivy team that has yet to lose in the postseason.

They put up 22 runs over three games to eliminate the Clearview Orioles in round two, and went 2 – 0 against the Brewers in a single doubleheader weekend in the regular season.

The remainder of the championship schedule is yet to be announced.

The Brewers are looking to become back-to-back Strother Cup champions for the first time since their four-year run from 2009-13, after taking last year's championship over the Knights in five games.

Meanwhile, the Bolton Dodgers, swept out of the first round of the NDBL postseason by the Leafs, will try their luck at this weekend's Ontario Baseball championships in the ‘B' division in Port Lambton.

Bolton takes on the host Port Lambton at 2 p.m. on Friday in the beginning of a round-robin format.

For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.ndbl.ca.