Sterritt’s five-RBI night impels Bolton Brewers to 6-4 comeback win over Barrie Angels

By Jim Stewart

Ben Sterritt's three-run homer in the fifth inning and two-run double in the sixth inning bolstered the Bolton Brewers' 6-4 comeback victory over the Barrie Angels at Taylor Fields on Monday night.

Sterritt acknowledged that the game was in doubt when he got to the plate at the bottom of the fifth.

The veteran-laden Brewers were trailing a much-improved Angels squad 3-0: “They have more depth and they looked hungry tonight.  I thought they had some big early hits and they were working pitch counts. Their starter was rolling along, too.”

Angels' starter Saunders Mireault—a dual player with the NCAA Genessee Community College Cougars and the Titans Baseball Club of the Canadian Premier Baseball League—had owned the Brewers for four innings. The sidewinder took the mound at the bottom of five with a no-hitter intact, seven strikeouts to his credit, and three Bolton batters hit by pitches over four innings of “effective wildness.”

Cue the compelling comeback in Caledon.

After Paul Cota broke up Mireault's no-no with a leadoff single and Brett Chater got on base on an E4, Sterritt entered the batter's box with singularity of purpose.

“I was down 2-and-0 and was looking for something that I could put in play to move the runners with two on and nobody out. The home run fired the team right up. The energy level jumped up and we finally got some hits after being shut down for four innings.”

The Brewers' two-spot hitter executed his plan with dramatic flair when he smashed Mireault's fastball over the right field fence and—as popular lore may have it one day—off the tarmac of Highway 50 and into the traffic circle.

Sterritt was amused by the suggested length of the prodigious blast which disappeared into the greenery beyond the ten-foot-high fence of the brand-new baseball diamond.

He explained the significance of his game-winning double off the centerfield fence at the bottom of six when the Brewers put up another three-spot on the scorecard and took their first lead of the game: “I was looking to do some damage. We've had a lot of close games this year that haven't gone our way.  We needed timely hitting tonight. When I hit the fastball, I thought the centerfielder was going to catch up to it, but it saw it hit the fence and I saw Chater dive to score the big run, it fired the team right up.”

The left-handed power-hitting Brewer praised the pitching of Matteo Stothers who delivered a quality start for Bolton: six innings pitched; four strikeouts; four runs surrendered—none of them earned:

“Matteo was throwing a hell of a game for us and gave us a chance to get our biggest win of the season. We're trying to get a good playoff spot so we have to put some wins together.” 

To that end, Cota roared out of the bullpen and earned the save by striking out two Angels to preserve the W. Sterritt complimented the Brewers' closer as well as a big defensive play at the top of the seventh from the team's most veteran player that stifled a prospective Barrie rally.

“I thought Paul was locked in tonight. He has a closer's mentality. It was good to see his resilience after giving up the lead off hit. [Head Coach] Mike [Wallace] trusted him out there tonight and Paul dug deep. We also got a great play at first base from “Clutch” Hutch. I thought he made a great adjustment on the ground ball to smother it—especially after just getting in the game—and he still make a nice throw to first to get the last out.”

The Brewers' next home game is Monday, June 29 when they host the Mansfield Cubs.

First pitch is 7:30 p.m. at Taylor Fields.