NDBL Junior seasons ends with Ivy Blues toppling Orangeville

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The North Dufferin Baseball League is finished for the 2019 season.

The Ivy Blues have come out on top in the final series with the Orangeville Rockies after winning in five games.

Ivy finished in first place this season with a 13 – 2 – 1 record.

The Mansfield Cubs bowed out after losing their first round series to Ivy in two games.

Several Shelburne area players are on Junior teams in the League this year and contributed to the success of the Junior division.

The Rockies dispatched the Orillia Royals in their first round series to earn the right to go to the championship.

The Midland Twins were fourth team in the Division this season they were forced to drop out of competition after forfeiting two games. It's an NDBL rule that any team that forfeits two games is automatically disqualified from League play.

In the final series, Ivy got the edge in game one squeezing out a one run win when they played a 4 – 3 game in Tottenham on August 7.

Game two of the series ended with a 10 – 2 Ivy win on August 12.

The Rockies staved off the season end with a 6 -2 win in game three in Lisle.

In that game the Rockies had big third inning that gave them 3-1 lead. They finished of with three runs in the seventh to keep the series alive.

Returning to O-ville for game four, the Rockies were pumped to tie the series and force a game five back on Ivy's home diamond.

The final game saw the Blues take a one run lead in the opening inning, then follow up with a pair of runs in the second.

The Rockies scored in the fourth inning on a double that brought in one run.

Ivy scored in the top of of the fifth inning for a two run lead..

Ivy scored four runs in the sixth inning for an 8 – 3 lead with one Orangeville at-bat left.

The final run came in when the Rockies picked up a double and scored on an error at home plate.

The final was an 8 – 4 for Ivy and a junior championship for the Blues.

“We really couldn't get the bats going. That guy (Ivy pitcher) really shut us down,” said Rockies shortstop Kyle Dalton after the game. “Once we started going we got a few hits. We had a few errors and that cost us at the end.”

The Senior division of the NDBL is currently in the second round of playoff with four teams battling it out or a chance to go to the final.