Brewers’ bats sizzle in seven-run second inning in 10-5 romp over Rangers 

By Jim Stewart

The Bolton Brewers blasted eight hits in a seven-run second inning and coasted to a 10-5 win over the Ivy Rangers on a muggy Monday night at North Hill Park.

Brewers' veteran shortstop and leadoff hitter Brett Chater attributed the team's blazing start versus Ivy to having the full team at the ballpark.

“We had our whole roster here tonight and our batting lineup was strong from top to bottom. We needed the win and our hitters really responded. We had all our pitchers here tonight, too.”

Chater complimented Brewers' youthful starting pitcher Jack Perry on the three strong innings he threw versus Ivy.

“He's a really good young pitcher for an 18-year-old and he was commanding all four of his pitches tonight. He threw a lot of curveballs for strikes. Jack struck out the side at the top of the second and struck out two more at the top of the third. In his only other pitching appearance against Clarksburg, he struck out three in one inning.”

The lanky southpaw left the game leading 10-0 and was the recipient of a relentless Brewers' attack early in the game.

After Perry kept the Rangers off the scoreboard at the top of the first, Mike Wallace, Carson Burns, and Ben Sterritt delivered RBIs to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.

Perry responded to the three-run cushion by promptly striking out the side at the top of the second with the last two Rangers batters caught looking at off-speed stuff that looked unhittable to most onlookers.

The Brewers followed up their starter's 1-2-3 inning by bashing out eight hits at the bottom of the second.

Chris Fafalios initiated the onslaught by smashing a single through the left side of the Rangers' infield.

Chater followed up Fafalios's hard knock by scorching a single past third base.

With one out, Ben Sterritt collected the first of six consecutive hits by the Brewers when he smashed a single up the middle to plate Chater. Stephen Warden drove in Fafalios and Sterritt with another shot through the left side of the infield.

The nightmare start for Rangers' pitcher Brad Besley continued when Carter Burnside's single was followed by Mike Wallace's second RBI single of the ballgame—another blast up the middle of the diamond.

Carson Burns's sharp single between second and first loaded the bases.

Jack Larmer cleared those bases and collected three RBI when his line drive handcuffed the Rangers' leftfielder.

Falfalios and Chater grounded out to close the inning, but the damage was done as the Brewers' lead swelled to double figures after two innings of play. 

Despite walking Rangers' lead off Jamie Gillespie at the top of the third after being handed a 10-0 lead, Perry bore down and demonstrated veteran savvy that belied his age. The lefty induced a ground ball out to first base and struck out Mike Kriegizas and Ryan Barr to complete his abbreviated start—a dress rehearsal for a starting role with the club in the first round of the playoffs.

Coach Wallace substituted freely with a ten-run lead in the fourth inning and Brewers' middle reliever Nick Fiorucci found himself in a bases-loaded, none-out jam after yielding a double, single, and walk to the Rangers. However, a sparkling defensive effort by Chater—who sprinted from where he was shaded toward second base to the fence behind third base to snag a sinking foul ball. The athletic shortstop's catch froze the Ivy baserunners.

The highlight reel play righted the Brewers' ship.

Fiorucci struck out Brayden French and induced a tricky popup from Gillespie that was tracked down by catcher Logan Hart who dashed from behind the dish to corral the dipping baseball halfway up the first baseline.

Chater discussed the importance of those mid-game defensive plays: “We made those efforts for our pitcher to pick him up. After we got the first out for him, Nick settled in and got two big outs with the bases loaded to keep our ten-run lead.”

Although Ivy plated three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to narrow the deficit to 10-5, Brewers' closer Carson Burns cooled off the Rangers' suddenly hot bats in the seventh.

Although Burns walked Kirby Smith to lead off the inning, veteran John Hutchinson flashed the leather at first base to steal a double from Parker Walker and get the key first out.

After the young closer induced a popout from pinchhitter Ralph Murray that was collected coolly by Chater, Burns issued a free pass to Gillespie, but recalibrated to strikeout Wes Kobelka looking with runners at 2 and 3rd to earn the hold.

The five-run win over the Rangers had no impact on the first round playoff matchups since Ivy (13-6-2) had clinched third place.

Bolton, heading into Monday's contest at 11-9-1 and in fifth-place, leapt over Lisle (11-9-2) into fourth spot with the victory.

Win or lose, the Brewers' first round opponent was going to be the Lisle Astros. The only thing at stake for the Brewers in their last game of the regular season was home field advantage over the Astros in the teams' upcoming six-point series.

Mission accomplished. 

Ominously, the Brewers lost both of their regular season games against the Astros—most recently, 3-1 at home on June 26 and 8-3 in Lisle to open the 2025 season, but Chater looked ahead to the opening round with confidence.

The Brewers' leading hitter—who closed the regular season with a .519 batting average – outlined the keys to beating Lisle: “Their pitching is different than other teams—they throw lots of off-speed pitches, lots of curveballs and changeups—so we'll have to sit back and be patient as hitters. One of the keys is that their pitching and hitting might not match up to our hitting and pitching when our entire roster is ready to go. We'll definitely need to outhit them to win the series.”

The win over the Rangers gave the Brewers some much-needed momentum in their quest for the franchise's eighth Strother Cup. Bolton's disappointing 2025 regular season (12-9-1)—in which the traditional powerhouse lost games to playoff-eliminated teams like Orillia (8-12-2), Clarksburg (7-15-0), and Mansfield (3-17-2)—has been a rollercoaster ride of winning streaks and losing streaks. 

On Monday night, the Brewers' excellent starting pitching, productive batting order, and three brilliant defensive plays against the third-place Rangers made the veteran squad appear to be playoff-ready.

NDBL Notes

Round One match-ups for the North Dufferin Baseball League Senior Division playoffs include the pennant-winning New Lowell Knights versus the eighth-place Creemore Padres.  The 2024 champion Owen Sound Baysox (2) begin their title defense against the seventh-place Midland Mariners. The third-seeded Rangers will play the sixth-seeded Barrie Angels. 

Since 1995, the Strother Cup had resided in the hands of only four franchises before Owen Sound broke into the winners' circle in 2024. The New Lowell Knights have won nine titles during that time period, the Bolton Brewers seven, the Creemore Padres six, and the Ivy Rangers five.  

The league's trophy was donated and presented by L.C.A. Strother, ESQ, in 1931. The hamlet of Honeywood was the first NDBL champion. The NDBL was founded in 1930 in Lisle and is one of the oldest sports leagues in Ontario.  

The Brewers' franchise name has been etched on the Strother Cup's plates in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2021.