Belmore Stingers sweep doubleheader to retain first place
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
The Belmore Stingers and Brussels Tigers continue to have very little separating them stop the Huron County Fastball League standings.
The Stingers are in first place with a record of 15-3 and have 30 points. The Tigers have 28 points and a record of 14-2, having won their four most recent games.
The Wingham Hitmen are in third place with a record of 12-6 and 24 points, followed by the fourth-place Sebringville Sting at 10-6-1 and 20 points and the fifth-place Milverton Millwrights with a record of 10-4 and 20 points.
The Mitchell Mets are in sixth place with a record of 9-6-1 and 19 points, followed by the Monkton Muskrats at 7-10 and 14 points in seventh place, the eighth-place Fullarton A’s at 6-8 and 12 points, the ninth-place Walton Brewers with 11 points and a record of 5-11-1 and the Goderich Grizzlies at 5-12 and 10 points in 10th place.
The Wroxeter Rippers are in 11th place with a record of 3-16 and six points and the Brussels Bangers remain in last place with a record of 2-14-1 and five points to round out the standings.
The Wroxeter Rippers have just three games left to play, while the Belmore Stingers and Wingham Hitmen each have four. The Sebringville Sting, Monkton Muskrats, Walton Brewers, Goderich Grizzlies and Brussels Bangers each have five games left on the schedule, while the Brussels Tigers and Mitchell Mets each have six. The Milverton Millwrights and Fullarton A’s each have eight games left to play.
On Aug. 21, the Belmore Stingers and Wroxeter Rippers played two, five-inning games - one of which was originally scheduled to be played on Aug. 9 - with Belmore winning both by 8-3 and 4-0 scores.
On Aug. 22, the Brussels Tigers played the Brewers in Walton and the Sebringville Sting hosted the Mitchell Mets - in a game originally scheduled to be played on June 25. The Tigers beat the Brewers by a score of 9-4, while the Mets and Sting tied at seven.
On Aug. 20, the Hitmen beat the Wroxeter Rippers in Wingham by a score of 12-1, while the Sebringville Sting hosted the Brussels Bangers, sending the visitors home on the wrong end of a 7-0 game that took just six innings to complete.
On Aug. 18, the Wingham Hitmen welcomed the Walton Brewers to Wingham to coincide with a youth year-end tournament and won the game by a score of 3-1. Also that day, the Monkton Muskrats beat the Wroxeter Rippers by a score of 8-1 in Wroxeter.
The Milverton Millwrights were due to play the Sting in Sebringville that night, but that game was postponed and will be made up at a later date.
That was the Millwrights’ second postponed game in as many days, as the team was scheduled to host the Wroxeter Rippers on Aug. 17 - in a game originally scheduled to be played on July 20 - but that game was also postponed and will be made up at a later date.
On Aug. 16, the Wingham Hitmen hosted the Monkton Muskrats in a game originally scheduled to be played on July 26 and the Hitmen won by a score of 3-1.
On Aug. 23, the Monkton Muskrats were set to welcome the Goderich Grizzlies to Monkton and, the next night, the Belmore Stingers were scheduled to be in Milverton to play the Millwrights, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.
There are five games on the schedule for tonight, Aug. 25. The Brussels Tigers will be in Sebringville to play the Sting, while the Brussels Bangers will host the Belmore Stingers, the Walton Brewers will play the Muskrats in Monkton, the Fullarton A’s will travel to Wroxeter to play the Rippers and the Wingham Hitmen will be in Goderich to tangle with the Grizzlies.
Then, on Sunday, there are four games to be played. The Sebringville Sting will host the Wingham Hitmen, the Brussels Tigers and Brussels Bangers will play in a game originally scheduled for Aug. 18, the Milverton Millwrights will travel to Wroxeter to play the Rippers and the Mitchell Mets will be in Fullarton for a contest with the A’s.
On Aug. 29, the Walton Brewers will host the Milverton Millwrights and the Sebringville Sting will be in Fullarton to play the A’s, followed by Aug. 30 games between the Wingham Hitmen and Belmore Stingers in Belmore and the Mitchell Mets and Brussels Bangers in Brussels.
On Aug. 31, the Fullarton A’s will welcome the Walton Brewers for a game originally scheduled to be played on Aug. 15. Also that night, the Sebringville Sting will host the Monkton Muskrats and the Mitchell Mets will be in Milverton to play the Muskrats.
On Sept. 1, the Brussels Bangers will host the Goderich Grizzlies in a game originally scheduled to be played on Aug. 16.
Just ahead of the last game of the season, designated as Sept. 11, the Mitchell Mets will be in Walton to play the Brewers on Sept. 5, the same night the Fullarton A’s will welcome the Milverton Millwrights to Fullarton.
On Sept. 6, the Belmore Stingers will host the Goderich Grizzlies, the Monkton Muskrats will host the Wingham Hitmen and the Mitchell Mets will be in Brussels to play the Tigers, followed by a Sept. 7 game between the Walton Brewers and the Milverton Millwrights in Milverton.
The final two games on the schedule are on Sept. 8 when the Monkton Muskrats will host the Brussels Bangers and the Goderich Grizzlies will play the A’s in Fullarton.
The league’s annual playoff tournament will be held in Goderich this year, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 15-17.