Brewers to face Midland in NDBL first playoff round

August 2, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Coutepatte
The Bolton Brewers may have come up just short of the North Dufferin Baseball League regular season championship, but they gained a favourable pairing for the post-season’s opening round.
A final record of 21-6-1, matching the Aurora Jays but the winners of a tiebreaker, landed the Brewers in second place and a date with the seventh-place Midland Indians.
Following a 15-5 drubbing of the Lisle Astros Saturday afternoon, a pair of losses to the league-leading New Lowell Knights Sunday sealed the fate of the Bolton squad and closed out the season.
Entering the doubleheader just one point back of the Knights for first place, a 10-3 loss in the first game was enough to clinch the regular season crown for the Knights.
New Lowell used the long ball effectively, sending three home runs out of the park to Bolton’s one, provided by Brett Chater for his fourth of the year.
Mike Blackwood was tagged with the loss after starting the first four innings, giving up seven hits and five runs in his outing.
With the standings locked and the second game all but a formality, Bolton gave up a 4-3 lead to New Lowell in the sixth, when they Knights tagged Troy Barwick with a four-run inning to take a lead they would not relinquish.
The final score was 7-6.
Riding one of the hottest streaks in the AA league prior to the weekend, Bolton had won 15 of their last 16 games before meeting with the powerhouse Knights.
Midland, despite finishing with a so-so record of 15-11-2, enter the postseason riding quite a streak of their own, having won eight of their last nine.
They have, however, encountered plenty of trouble with the Brewers this season.
Bolton swept the season series between the two, winning 10-3 in Midland back in May before an 8-0 shutout in mid-July.
The Knights will face the eighth-place Barrie Angels, the Jays will face the sixth-place Ivy Leafs, and the fourth-place Clearview Orioles will battle the fifth-place Orangeville Giants.
Schedules will be released today (Thursday) following a league meeting, with the best-of-five first round set to kick off Tuesday. Two rounds of best-of-five baseball will be followed by a best-of-seven championship series, culminating in mid-September.
Bolton last won the NDBL championship in 2013, while the Knights have earned the Strother Cup the last two seasons.
For stats, schedules and more information, visit www.ndbl.ca