Burnside -
As the Bud Light Burnside Baseball League charges toward playoffs later this month, some stability has asserted itself in the middle of the standings.
The top and bottom remain unchanged, with Sameday continuing to stay on top, while Source Atlantic and Joe Johnson remain unchanged in ninth and tenth, respectively. Up till now, though, the centre part of the standings saw changes on an almost daily basis as teams jockeyed back and forth.
Now the standings have settled into an order that has remained unchanged over the past several weeks. Perennial contender GMAC is in a tight battle with Bud Light - the two are separated by a mere 0.002 percentage points - but continues to hold on to second place. Both teams are closing in on the leader, with GMAC only three victories back and Bud Light actually having the same number of wins, but more losses (Bud Light has played four more games than Sameday at this point in the season).
Bird Stairs and the Heavy Hitters are the only other teams to be above the .500 mark. Bird Stairs sits just behind the frontrunners with an 18-10 record, while the Heavy Hitter - the newest team in the league this year - sit squarely in fifth at 16-14.
Canada Post, after starting the year strong and hanging around the top of the standings, has settled in at sixth. The Dartmouth Old Guys (DOGs) and Wilson Auto are next in line at seventh and eighth.
Playoffs are currently scheduled to get underway on August 25, but League Commissioner Brian McDow says the excessively rainy weather has played havoc with the schedule this summer, causing a number of cancellations and field closures. Those games will have to be made up before the playoffs can begin, so he is considering pushing the schedule back and starting the playoffs in September. A decision is expected soon.
Featured Game
This month's featured game between Wilson Auto and the Heavy Hitters certain had its share of drama. As the underdog of the match up, Wilson started the game strong by knocking in four runs in the top of the first. The Heavy Hitters answered back with a two run homer in the bottom of the inning. It was the last runs the team would see for several innings.
Wilson Auto's pitching and defence kept their opponents at bay, shutting them out of the scoring in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings while scoring three in the third, four in the fifth, two in the sixth and a final run in the seventh.
The Heavy Hitters looked like they might break out of their slump in the sixth with a series of deep singles that put runners on the pads and scored the team's first run since the first inning. However, a textbook double play and a fly out to centrefield end the rally.
However, the Heavy Hitters weren't finished. Facing a 14-3 deficit, the team started the bottom of the final inning with a home run. It then sent nine players to the plate and scored seven runs to narrow the gap to 14-10. That was as close as they came, though, when a runner was thrown out at the plate, the shortstop grabbed a line drive and a grounder rolled to first base to preserve Wilson Auto's victory.
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