Chater’s 4-hit, 4-RBI performance leads Brewers to 8-4 win over Cardinals in The Battle of Caledon

By Jim Stewart

Dozens of fans, including a spirited, red-clad cheering section comprised of U13 Caledon Nationals, filled the bleachers and surrounded the backstop with lawn chairs at North Hill Park on Monday night to watch the Bolton Brewers defeat the Caledon Cardinals 8-4 in NDBL senior division action.

It was the biggest crowd of the season for both clubs and featured classic ball game treats being sold by a group of hospitable U13 parents fundraising for their rep baseball squad.

In perfect summer evening playing conditions, the Brewers' lead-off man Brett Chater was a one-man wrecking crew versus the Cardinals.

The veteran shortstop slammed a bases-loaded, two-out triple at the top of the second inning to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead and picked up his fourth RBI of the game with a single at the top of the fourth to extend the Brewers' lead to 5-1.

Chater, who leads the team in hits with 33 and has accrued a .493 batting average, finished the game 4 for 4 with a run scored.

The fledgling Cardinals, who extricated themselves from the senior division cellar with their sixth win in their inaugural NDBL season, showed why Head Coach Dalton Cooke's expansion club is in the ascendency.

The plucky young team narrowed the deficit to 5-3 at the bottom of the fifth when Ben Larsen led off with a single.

The speedy baserunner stole second and was cashed in by Mario Accardo whose one-out RBI single pulled the Cards to within three.

Accardo was plated by Daniel Ortelan's RBI triple, but Brewers' starter Carson Burns limited the damage to two runs by striking out Thomas Norrie and Kyle Dalton with the tying runs on base.

It was the turning point of the game as the Brewers plated three more runs at the top of the sixth when Daniel Accardo and Chater hit singles to kick off the inning. After Ben Sterritt drew a one-out walk to load the bases, Carter Burnside, Mike Wallace, and Jack Larmer delivered three consecutive RBI to extend Bolton's lead to 8-3.

The Cardinals plated one run off Brewers' closer Nick Fiorucci when Head Coach Cooke bashed a lead-off single and was cashed in by Kyle Dalton's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

However, Fiorucci fanned Matthew Leek looking and Chris Zanchetta swinging to stall the Cards' comeback bid and induced an infield popup to Chater to end the game.

It was a fitting way to end the Battle of Caledon, given the veteran shortstop's impact on the field and in the batter's box.

Brewers' player-coach Mike Wallace praised the play of Chater from the visitor's dugout after Monday night's game.

“His two-out triple was huge for us tonight.  We've been having troubles lately with our two-out hitting.  Brett is such a great ballplayer. Sometimes we take him for granted because he plays so well for us every game. Tonight, he had four hits and he drove in four in key situations during the game. He made all the difference tonight.”

Coach Wallace also complimented his starter Carson Burns, who threw six effective innings and struck out seven Cardinals to supply the Brewers with a quality start.

“Carson is one of our go-to guys on the pitching staff. Tonight, he had great command of the strike zone and he made some textbook plays as a fielder, too, taking away a couple of hits up the middle. His athleticism shone through tonight.”

The veteran skipper acknowledged the importance of Monday night's victory for his struggling ball club.

“It's a pretty big win for us. Unfortunately, we're only playing .500 baseball.  We win one, we lose one.  It's been the story of the regular season. We're playing Ivy on Thursday night in a game that has a big impact on our playoff seeding. We could finish anywhere from fourth to seventh so a win tonight and Thursday will go a long way. Ivy is also a potential first-round playoff opponent so it'll be an important game.”

The perennial powerhouse Brewers, who won the NDBL pennant last year after a stellar regular season, are in a strange place in the late-season standings. The veteran ball club did clinch a playoff spot with Monday's win coupled with Orillia's loss on the weekend and finds itself tied for fourth with the youthful Barrie Angels. Owen Sound, New Lowell, and Ivy hover above them with playoff spots clinched as the NDBL enters its final week of regular season games.

Prior to the much-needed 8-4 win over the Cardinals, the Brewers split a pair of slugfests in Thornbury versus the Clarksburg Blues on Saturday afternoon. 

In the opener, Mike Wallace hit a two-run homer at the top of the seventh to lead Bolton to a 9-7 win at Moreau Park.

The Brewers' hard-hitting player-coach collected three of the Brewers' nine knocks and drove in four.

Wallace was also at the centre of Bolton's five-run surge at the top of the fifth inning when his two-run single helped impel his struggling squad to a 7-2 lead.  However, pesky Clarksburg struck back with five runs at the bottom of the sixth to tie the game—setting the stage for Wallace's heroics in Bolton's last at-bats.

Matteo Stothers survived the scare in the sixth to notch the complete game win. The Brewers' durable right-hander scattered seven hits, yielded just two earned runs in his seven innings of work, and struck out eight Blues. Stothers augmented his quality start by punching out two hits and collecting two RBI—adding an extra layer of meaning to a complete game performance.

In Game 2, Bolton's four-spot hitter Carter Burnside bashed out four hits and five RBI, but the Brewers capitulated 14-10 to the tenth-place Blues by stranding twelve baserunners.

Burnside's prodigious offensive performance was matched by Clarkson's cleanup hitter Nathan Lennox who collected four knocks and drove in five to pace the Blues' 14-hit attack.

Lennox hit two home runs for Clarksburg which used a seven-run uprising at the top of the seventh to put the game away.

Blues' three-spot hitter Alonzo St. Louis complemented Lennox's big day by fashioning his own four-hit game, driving in three, and scoring four.

Lennox and St. Louis were a dynamic one-two punch in the middle of the Blues' lineup that spoiled the Brewers' opportunity to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday afternoon. Reid Deibert hit a round-tripper for the Brewers and Ben Sterritt added three knocks, scored three runs, and collected two RBI. 

The Brewers (11-9-1) close their regular season on Thursday night when they host the Ivy Rangers at 7:30 at North Hill Park.  The Cardinals closed their inaugural season on Monday night versus the Brewers and finished with a 6-16-0 record—just two points behind the tenth-place Clarksburg Blues.