Brussels Tigers claim sixth title in seven years, fifth straight

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

After triumphing in Mitchell earlier this month, the Brussels Tigers are Huron County Fastball League champions for the fifth consecutive year and the sixth time in the last seven years.

The Tigers took on the host Mitchell Mets in the final, winning the last game of the tournament by a score of 8-0 thanks to a great pitching performance by Ty Sebastian, according to long-time Tiger Shawn Daw. This comes after the Tigers finished in third place in the regular season with a record of 13-7 behind the second-place Wingham Hitmen with a record of 14-5-1 and the first-place Belmore Stingers, who finished the regular season with a record of 16-4.

The Tigers first lit up the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning with four runs, adding two more in both the third and fourth innings to end the game with an 8-0 score.

The Tigers defeated the first-place Stingers in the semifinal round to punch their ticket to the finals. This came after the Stingers lost their first semifinal game of the double-elimination tournament against the Mets, with Mitchell winning by a score of 9-2.
When the Tigers played the Stingers, the game remained scoreless after the first two innings, but the Tigers would score four runs in the third, adding a single run in the fourth and another four runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach by a final score of 9-0.

The Mitchell Mets earned their semifinal berth with a win over the Sebringville Sting, after beating the Milverton AW Millwrights, the Goderich Grizzlies and the Fullarton A’s.

The Tigers, before defeating the Stingers and Mets on their way to victory, beat the Wingham Hitmen in the quarterfinals by a score of 6-1.

Against Wingham, the Tigers would score a single run in each of the first three innings, compared to the Hitmen scoring just once. Sebastian again shut the door, paving the way for the Tigers to score four more runs in the seventh inning to clinch the 6-1 win.

In the Tigers’ first game of the tournament after a first-round bye, they defeated the Sebringville Sting by a score of 5-2.
The Tigers took the lead in the third inning, moving one run across the plate. Sebringville would tie the game at one in the fifth, but Brussels answered back with two runs of their own for a 3-1 lead after five innings. 

The Sting scored a second run in  the sixth inning, but the Tigers added two more runs to end the game with a score of 5-2.
The Walton Brewers opened the tournament with a game against the Wroxeter Rippers. The Brewers would then take on Milverton and lose, sending them into the one-loss bracket for a contest with the Mitchell Mets, which they also lost, ending their tournament.

In the first round, the Monkton Muskrats defeated the Fullarton A’s, while the Sebringville Sting defeated the Wroxeter Rippers and the Mitchell Mets, the eventual runner-up, lost their first game of the tournament to the Goderich Grizzlies.
The Fullarton A’s then lost to the Goderich Grizzlies, while the Mets beat the Muskrats and the Brewers beat the Rippers.

In the second round, the Belmore Stingers beat the Monkton Muskrats and the AW Millwrights beat Walton, while the Tigers beat the Sting and the Hitmen beat the Grizzlies.
The Sting then ended the Grizzlies’ tournament, while the Mets knocked Walton out of contention.

The Stingers then beat Milverton to earn a spot in the semifinals, while the Tigers beat the Hitmen. The Sting would beat the AW Millwrights and the Mets would beat Wingham, leading to the quarterfinal game between Sebringville and the Mets.
Sebastian was a stand-out for the team once again, claiming the league’s pitching and batting titles.

In an e-mail to The Citizen, Daw said the team had a great year, being competitive and having fun in every game of the season. He said they wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of their fans and, of course, the hard work and co-operation of the team.