Sterritt and Larmer drive in two runs each in Bolton’s 8-6 series-deciding win over Orillia

By Jim Stewart

Carson Burns scored the winning run on a wild pitch and Ben Sterritt and Jack Larmer delivered two RBIs each to lead Bolton to an 8-6 victory over Orillia at Taylor Fields on Monday night.

The Brewers clinched the best-of-five quarter final playoff series three games to one and eliminated the higher-seeded Majors from the NDBL playoffs.

Red-hot Brewers third baseman Amin Juarez menaced Orillia pitchers in the previous three games and Monday night was no exception. The five-spot-hitter picked up three more knocks at his home diamond, including two doubles, and collected an RBI.

Remarkably, Juarez finished the four-game series with 12 hits.

Brewers Player/Head Coach Mike Wallace commented on Juarez's torrid hitting and its impact on the lineup: “He's on an Ernie Clement-kind of tear here. It's how we've won championships—getting big hits up and down the lineup. Amin's hitting for power. One of his doubles clanged off the fence—it just missed going out. We need length in our lineups when we face the league's best pitchers as we [go] deeper in the playoffs. Amin has lengthened our lineup and he had an MVP performance in the series.”

Juarez was involved in the turning point of the game during which a wild pitch by Majors' reliever Ron Francisco led to two runs at the top of the seventh to give the Brewers the winning run and an insurance run.

Coach Wallace described the chaotic and decisive moment of the playoff series: “It was one of the crazier plays in baseball. I was up to bat with Carson Burns on third and Amin on second. I had a close-up view of everything from the batter's box. The wild pitch went to the backstop, their catcher threw to the pitcher covering home, and the ball deflected off Carson as he was sliding into home. Amin ended up scoring from second base with great baserunning to give us a two-run lead.”

In addition to some opportunistic scoring in the seventh, the Brewers advanced to the next round because their first five hitters in the lineup—Brett Chater, Sterritt, Larmer, Carson Burns, and Juarez—went 8 for 14 at the dish with five RBI and six runs scored collectively on Monday night. Chater scored two runs to pace the offence at the top of the order.

Coach Wallace commented on the season-long production he's received from his first four hitters.

“For much of the year, we've had this consistency from the top four and Amin's hot streak has lengthened a lineup that has been hitting so well.  Some of our guys are streaky hitters, too, so if they had a down series against Orillia, I expect they'll heat up against Owen Sound.”

Brewers starter Paul Cota surrendered six runs in five innings of work versus the Majors, but only three  runs were earned. Charlie Hughes picked up his teammate in the sixth and seventh innings to earn the win in relief. Hughes delivered two shutout innings during which he walked none and struck out two Majors. He was the pitcher of record in two of the Brewers' victories over Orillia. Coach Wallace also credited Monday's series-clinching win to Hughes's shut down relief appearance, especially after blanking the Majors for seven innings in Game 1.

“Orillia has a scrappy hitting lineup. To shut down the Majors after we had taken the lead 8-6 was a big part of a game that had gone back and forth. We needed Charlie to hold them in the sixth to give our offence a chance to win the game in the seventh. He's a phenomenal pitcher to do what he did in the series. He was incredibly good against Orillia.”

The series win over Orillia earned Bolton a semifinal matchup with first-place Owen Sound.

The pennant-winning Baysox swept the Caledon Cardinals and captured the series with a 12-2 win in Owen Sound on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals—competing in the franchise's first playoff series in just their second season in the NDBL—put up a valiant fight in Games 1 and 2 as the Baysox eked out a pair of one-run victories:  6-5 and 3-2.

Coach Wallace said he was impressed by the fight that Caledon put up, especially in the opening games of the series.

“They played Owen Sound tough and the Baysox are a very good team. Hopefully, we can follow the Cards' example and play well in our series against the Baysox.”

Although there are many variables in the upcoming semifinal series between first-place Owen Sound and fourth-place Bolton, Coach Wallace maintained that, “There are three certainties in this life: death, taxes, and the Brewers advancing to Round 2 of the NDBL playoffs.”