Hot-hitting Jack Larmer leads Brewers to 7-5 win over Cardinals in “Battle of Caledon”

June 4, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

Jack Larmer scorched two doubles and drove in three runs to impel the Bolton Brewers to a narrow 7-5 win over the much-improved Caledon Cardinals in NDBL action at North Hill Park on Thursday night.

It was the Cardinals’ first loss of the season after opening the 2026 campaign with an 8-7 win over the Lisle Astros last Friday.

Matteo Stothers earned the W on Thursday by providing Bolton with a quality start. The deceptive righthander scattered eight hits, yielded two earned runs, struck out four Cardinals in five innings of work, and left the game with a 6-2 lead.

Victor Moguel earned a two-inning save in support of Stothers, but not before giving Brewers’ fans a few heart palpitations.

The veteran righty got off to a shaky start upon ascending the mound at the top of the sixth.

He surrendered three runs to a very pesky Cardinals lineup that strung together three hard-hit singles, and complemented their timely contact with aggressive baserunning, especially a brilliant, delayed double steal that set up a big two-RBI knock by Daniel Ortolan.

With the Brewers’ lead reduced to 6-5, it was nail-biting time for the perennial NDBL powerhouse, but Moguel struck out the Cards’ dangerous lead-off hitter Ben Larsen to quell the young squad’s uprising.

The Brewers’ offence responded to the Cardinals’ three-run rally when Carson Burns led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and Carter Burnside followed with a walk. After Dan Accardo singled to load the bases with none out, Bolton appeared poised for a big half inning, but Logan Hart popped up to second base. However, a piece of professional hitting by veteran John Hutchinson picked up Hart and provided Bolton with an insurance run when the big lefthander hit a deep, towering opposite field fly ball to drive in Burns to make it 7-5.

After Hutchison’s big insurance RBI, Moguel started his second inning of relief by walking the first two Cardinals he faced to create much suspense in The Battle of Caledon.

However, the crafty Brewers’ righty induced a fielder’s choice and skillfully struck out the last two batters he faced with new-found velocity and control to earn the two-inning save and preserve Stothers’s W.

After Moguel forestalled another late inning loss by the Brew Crew, Stothers gave credit to a number of players for the important early season victory and complimented the Cardinals’ improved play: “Logan called a great game. We were able to move the ball side to side, around the edges of the zone, and get ground balls and flyballs against a team that makes good contact and rarely strikes out. We all love playing these guys—they’re a good baseball team. Defense was great behind me tonight, too—Carson filled in at shortstop for Brett Chater and did a really good job. Ben Sterritt made some nice plays in the outfield and Reid played really well at first base.”

After complimenting his catcher’s game-calling and applauding his excellent defenders who played error-free baseball versus the Cardinals, Stothers praised the hitting prowess of his third baseman.

“We really needed to win tonight—it was a must-win situation– and Jack Larmer played a great game to be our leader. Those two doubles were big hits and Jack was the catalyst of the offence. He’s been our star at the plate so far this season and he’s been playing great at third.”

Larmer, who cobbled together a four-hit night in a narrow 10-9 loss to Orillia on Tuesday night, belted a double into the centre-right gap in the first inning to plate Amin Juarez and hammered a two-RBI double against the centre-field fence to stake the Brewers to a 5-0 lead after two innings of play.

Meanwhile, Stothers cruised along and put up zeroes through four innings until a wee blip in the fifth inning.

The Brewers’ starter kept the free-swinging Cardinals off balance until he surrendered a leadoff single to Ortolan, k’d Josh Catalanotto, surrendered an RBI triple to Larsen, induced a GO6-3 RBI, surrendered a triple, but induced a ground ball to his first baseman Reid Deibert to limit the Cardinals to two runs. It was a key sequence that turned out to be pivotal point in an entertaining contest.

The Brewers improved their NDBL record to 2-4 with the victory over the Cardinals who fell to 1-1.

The game also had some historical significance. It was likely the last game the cross-town rivals will play at venerable North Hill Park as both teams are poised to move into their new digs at Taylor Fields in north Bolton for the rest of the NDBL season.