Mitchell Mets finish atop Huron County Fastball League, year-end tournament this weekend

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

With a last-minute, three-win push, the Mitchell Mets edged out the Sebringville Sting earlier this week to finish first in the Huron County Fastball League standings, setting the table for this weekend’s year-end tournament, set to be held at the top team’s diamonds.

 

The Mets ended with a record of 14-5-1 and 29 points, partly on the strength of two Tuesday night wins, both in Mitchell. First, the team beat the Brussels Tigers by a score of 9-3 in a game that was originally to have been played on Sept. 2. The team then defeated the Sebringville Sting by a score of 3-2 to flip the leaderboard and squeak into first place and sending the Sting into second place with 28 points and a record of 13-5-2.

 

Also on Tuesday night, the Belmore Stingers beat the Fullarton A’s by a score of 6-3 in Fullarton, helping them into third place in the standings with 25 points and a record of 12-7-1.

 

The Milverton Millwrights finished the regular season in fourth place with 23 points and a record of 11-8-1. They edged down the board on Labour Day Monday with a 9-7 loss to the Monkton Muskrats, in Monkton. That was part of the Muskrats’ triple-header Labour Day to make up a number of games. Also that day, the Muskrats beat the Wroxeter/Wingham Rippers by a score of 11-8, but lost to the Walton Brewers by a score of 4-0.

 

Also on Labour Day Monday, the Brussels Tigers hosted a double-headers with the Belmore Stingers, losing by scores of 9-2 and 17-2, respectively, and the Fullarton A’s beat the Walton Brewers by a score of 13-7.

 

Back to the standings, in fifth place, just one point behind the Milverton Millwrights are the Wroxeter/Wingham Rippers with 22 points and a record of 11-9. 

 

The Brussels Bangers ended the season at .500 with a 10-10 record and 20 points, followed by the Goderich Grizzlies with a record of 9-11 and 18 points and the eighth-place Fullarton A’s with a record of 8-11-1 and 17 points. 

 

The Walton Brewers and Monkton Muskrats both finished with records of 7-13 and 14 points, but the Brewers finished in ninth place and the Muskrats are in 10th as a result of the head-to-head record going the Brewers’ way (the locals won both times they played the Muskrats).

 

The Brussels Tigers finished in last place with a record of 5-15 and 10 points. However, never count the Tigers out when year-end tournament time rolls around. Despite where the finished in the standings, the Tigers have been a favourite in the tournament in the last decade, winning all but two since 2015. The Wingham Hitmen won in 2016 - beating the Tigers in the final - and the Belmore Stingers won in 2024 over the Mitchell Mets. The Tigers are the defending champions, beating the Sebringville Sting in the final last year.

 

In action before the long weekend, the Sebringville Stine were in Goderich to play the Grizzlies on Sept. 4 and won by a score of 8-0. One day earlier, the Mitchell Mets tied the Millwrights at four in Milverton before the Mets beat the Millwrights by a score of 9-0 in the second game of their double-header. Also that day, the Goderich Grizzlies were in Fullarton and beat the A’s by a score of 5-1.

 

Back on Sept. 1, the Mitchell Mets beat the A’s in Fullarton by a score of 7-1 and the Goderich Grizzlies beat the Brewers in Walton by a score of 7-0.

 

A schedule for this weekend’s year-end tournament in Mitchell was not available at press time, but should be posted on the league website - huroncountyfastball.com - closer to this weekend.