The Mid-Island Brewers were missing some key players for their last homestand of the season last Saturday, but things went about as well as they could have hoped as they earned a split against the Lambrick Royals to stay in first place in the South Island Baseball League standings.
The Brewers lost game one of the doubleheader 6-5, but came back and mercied the Royals 12-2 in game two.
The opener was a close contest, with some tough fielding errors proving to be the ultimate dagger in the Brewers’ hopes. A triple by Gavin Foss in the bottom of the seventh put the tying run on third with no outs, but the Brewers couldn’t drive him home.
“We fought hard considering the circumstances and I was happy with our performance overall,” manager Keygan Hankins said.
Not interested in finishing the day with two losses, the Brewers woke up their bats in the second game and got a strong six-inning performance from Alejandro Ortega, who struck out six while allowing just two runs. The bottom of the order did a lot of the damage, as Foss, James McMahon and Harman Rathor each collected two hits and combined for seven runs.
“Our bottom of the order staying strong and continuing to put up numbers is a big part of our success this season,” Hankins said. “A lot of the guys have really come a long way this season.”
The Brewers will wrap up the regular season on the road this Saturday with a doubleheader against the Layritz Rockies at noon and 3 p.m.