Brewers bounce Baysox from North Dufferin Baseball League playoffs with decisive 7-2 home field semifinal victory

Malanan hits two homers and Cota delivers masterful CG performance to eliminate Owen Sound

By Jim Stewart

The Bolton Brewers defeated the Owen Sound Baysox 7-2 on Friday night at Taylor Fields to win their best-of-five NDBL semifinal series three games to one.

It was the biggest upset of the 2026 NDBL Senior Division playoffs. Not only did Owen Sound (17-5-0) finish four spots ahead of Bolton (13-8-1) after the regular season, but the Baysox swept a doubleheader on May 16 by beating the Brewers 8-2 and 12-7.

However, as S.E. Hinton entitled her famous work of fiction, “That Was Then, This Is Now.”

Clean-up hitter Justin Malanan put the team's emphasis on “now” and relegated those early season losses to Owen Sound into the distant past by hitting two home runs and driving in three to pace Bolton's blistering offence.

Player Coach Mike Wallace marveled at Malanan's moon shots in Game 4.

“With both his home runs, I think they're still travelling, to be honest. His first one was a liner that would have been in the first deck of the Rogers Centre.  Justin's second one would have been in the second deck. It was similar to the one he hit in Game 2—it got out of Taylor Fields in a hurry. Ben Sterritt drove in a pair of big runs for us, too, in Game 4. Brett Chater continued to get us big hits with two outs when he drove in Amin Juarez who had two more hits.”

In addition to the hitting heroics of Malanan, Sterritt, Chater, and Juarez, Coach Wallace also praised his starting pitcher's complete game, eight-strikeout performance versus the pennant-winning Baysox.

“Paul Cota had his stuff working. He had a lot of guys 0-2 and he induced weak contact and ground ball outs. He could have had even more strikeouts if batters hadn't rolled over. He's very smooth, mechanically. The ball jumps out at the hitter. His sliders and curveballs set up the fastballs all night.”

Cota's masterful pitching allowed him to escape a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in Game 4 with the game tied 3-3. Coach Wallace asserted that it was the turning point in the club's decisive victory over the favored Baysox.

“Paul started a 1-2-3 double play after Owen Sound had loaded the bases with none out. It was 3-3 and the Baysox could have got some momentum if they cashed those baserunners. After Paul started the double play, he K'd the next batter to get us out of it. We came back with two runs at the bottom of the inning.  Juarez singled and Chater drove him in. Sterritt just missed hitting a home run and Chater came around all the way from first to score a big run. Then Justin put one out of the park.”

Even though the Brewers' offense produced 22 runs in four games, Coach Wallace credited his pitching staff for being the difference in the stirring upset of the first-place Baysox.

“It came down to starting pitching—it was excellent. The efforts they gave were incredible and our defense was on point, too. Earlier in the season, Paul wasn't ready to start and Charlie wasn't ready to start. But by the time the playoffs rolled around, our starters have made all the difference versus Orillia and Owen Sound.”

Another key factor behind the resurgence of the Brewers, according to Coach Wallace, is the return of veteran outfielder Chris Fafalios.

“He was a piece we didn't have for most of the season.  He had a serious bone bruise on his foot. Chris loves the game and he was chomping at the bit to get back in the lineup. He's one of our stable outfielders and drove in a big run for us in Game 4.”

Fafalios's RBI out of the seven-spot revealed how long and dangerous the Brewers' hitting lineup has become.

In the decisive game on Friday night, Coach Wallace got RBIs from the 1-spot, 2-spot, 4-spot, and 7-spot in his lineup and seven of the nine batters picked up at least one hit versus the first-place Baysox.

The veteran bench boss addressed the depth of the Brewers' attack.

“We're not relying on one player or one group. Our first four hitters can't be kept down for very long.  We continued to be tough outs.”

Although the Brewers dropped a 5-1 decision to the Baysox in Owen Sound in Game 3 on Thursday, the same formula of excellent pitching and powerful hitting that characterized Game 4 was on display in Game 2 at Taylor Fields on Monday night. 

Bolton clobbered Owen Sound 6-1 on the strength of Charlie Hughes's dominant five-inning performance and Matteo Stothers' two effective innings of relief.

The Brewers hard-hitting lineup continued to feast on Baysox pitching as Carson Burns hit two home runs over the right-field fence and Malanan hit a solo shot over the left-field fence.

Coach Wallace addressed the keys to victory in the pivotal Game 2.

“It all starts with the starting pitching of Charlie Hughes—he's developing quite the reputation in the league. Matteo's going to throw you strikes and I put him out to close the Orillia series. He's at his best when he's landing his curveball and changeup as he did tonight.”

In addition to praising the “serious power” of Malanan, Coach Wallace lauded the power of his second baseman Burns.

“I'm seeing Carson on deck when I'm hitting behind him. He was dialed in on everything. It reminded me of another great game he had when he hit two home runs against New Lowell two years ago.”

The Brewers' excellent pitching was supported by a pair of spectacular defensive plays by veteran Brett Chater who took away a pair of runs from the Baysox with fine footwork and fielding up the middle.

Coach Wallace applauded his shortstop's range and value to the team.

“He's just a great player. We have to be careful not to take him for granted after seeing him do these things for twenty years. His Baseball IQ is off the charts—he knows the tendencies of hitters after being in the league for so long so he's ready for it and it showed tonight.”

Brewers starting pitcher Charlie Hughes acknowledged the value of the defense behind him and praised his club's potent bats: “The offense was cooking tonight. We're getting great hitting and it takes the pressure off me so I can focus on throwing strikes and letting the defense make plays. The key to our recent success is that we're having fun as a team and enjoying every game. Good things are happening and we're becoming a tough team to beat. I've made some adjustments this Summer, too. I've been trusting myself and attacking the zone.”

Hughes attacked the zone in Game 2 and struck out seven Baysox—yielding only one run to give the Brewers another quality start in the playoffs. Hughes was the pitcher of record in two victories over Orillia in the quarterfinals.

The surging Brewers will take on the New Lowell Knights for the NDBL championship starting on September 12.

The Knights eliminated the Rangers from their semifinal series with an 11-6 victory at Ivy on Tuesday night.