The Mid-Island Brewers needed a sweep last Saturday, and they got it, although it wasn’t in the way they expected.
After the Layritz Reds won their game on Friday night, the Brewers needed to win both ends of their doubleheader against the Layritz Rockies on Saturday to clinch first place in the South Island Baseball League for the first time in their five-year history.
As much as the Brewers wanted to win the games and finish first, they had to be careful with their pitchers as they eyed the postseason.
“With playoffs starting as soon as three days after these final two regular season games, we had to take a really smart approach to how we wanted to set our rotation for the playoffs,” manager Keygan Hankins said.
For the first game, they sent first-year Brewer Hayden Plester to the mound, and he rose to the occasion, striking out six in a four-inning complete game as Mid-Island mercied the Rockies 15-3. Gavin Foss went 1-for-1 at the plate with two walks, two runs and three RBIs.
During the fourth inning of the first game, the Brewers were informed that the Rockies wouldn’t have enough players for the second game, so it would go in the books as a 7-0 victory for Mid-Island.
“It was in part disappointing, because all of us love playing baseball, also partially exciting; it meant we secured first place without the need to use pitching that we wanted to save for playoffs,” Hankins said.
The Brewers opened the playoffs on Wednesday night, after the Citizen’s deadline, hoping to begin a deep run and defend their SIBL title.