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2011 Brewers Preview Entering their second season since their rebirth in the STDMFL, the Springfield (formerly Belmont) Brewers are looking to make some noise. An off season move to the newly renovated Springfield diamond, and the acquisition of some new key players should help the Brewers in their quest to be more aggressive at the plate and on the basepaths as well. |
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Springfield Brewers Finalists in Annual Woodstock Victoria Weekend Tournament
Just as it has all year, the weather threatened to wreak havoc once again at the Annual Woodstock Victoria Weekend Fastball Tournament hosted by the Sweaburg Crush. This weekend though, luckily, Mother Nature was a bit more of a fastball fan as 14 teams competed in a well run, competitive and enjoyable tournament.
The Springfield Brewers went into the tournament with a 0-3 record in league play after some hard fought battles, and were looking to shake off the rust from their slow start to the season. In their first game of the tournament Springfield was set to face the Kitchener Predators on Saturday morning. Both teams got off to a good start with a score of 4-3 for Springfield after the first. Springfield was able to add two more in the second inning, one in the fourth, and finished strong with four runs in the seventh inning, for the 11-3 win.
Later on Saturday the Brewers hit the field again, this time taking on the Kitchener Selects. It seemed after an afternoon in the beer tent the Springfield bats had gone cold, as they were only able to manage to squeeze across lone runs in the first and fifth innings, while Kitchener scored two runs in the first, another in the third, and finished with two runs in the seventh inning.
Sunday morning saw a bit of rain that helped to keep the diamonds from getting too dusty, and the rain also seemed to bring the Brewers back to life as they played the hometown Woodstock Kelseys. The Brewers jumped out to an early lead by scoring two runs in the first inning. They added another run in the second inning, and both teams scored one in the fourth. Both pitchers were then able to shut down the offence, keeping the score 4-1 through the end of the game. As a result of their 2-1 record, and good plus minus rating, the Brewers advanced to the “A” division playoffs. Competition was extremely tight, as all teams ranked 2nd to 8th through pool play had a record of 2-1, with varying numbers of runs for and against. Due to their convincing wins Saturday and Sunday morning Springfield was ranked in third place for Monday’s action.
In the Semi Final on Monday Springfield went back up against the Woodstock Kelseys for a berth in the Championship game. In this game it was Woodstock who would jump out to an early lead, scoring lone runs in the third and fourth innings, and carrying that 2-0 score into the seventh inning. Finally the Springfield squad came to life in the seventh, getting some clutch hits and scoring two runs to tie the game. Extra innings would be needed, and in the eighth inning Springfield scraped across a run, and then as a result of some solid defense were able to shut out the Kelseys in the bottom of the eighth to earn the victory.
After advancing to the “A” championship a banged up Brewers squad went up against the Shakespeare Falcons, who were 4-0 after their semi final win over Harwood Corners. A few errors by the Springfield defense allowed the Falcons to score early and often, with a final score of 10-2 for the Falcons after 5 innings.
The Brewers would like to thank their coach for the weekend, Chico, on loan from the Alvinston Indians, for sparking us with his enthusiasm and knowledge, and for showing us the proper technique for hemming pants. We would also like to thank our sponsors, McCallum Construction LTD, J&S Collision, and Winship Athletics. |