Mansfield Junior Cubs finish 5th in regular season

Written By Brian Lockhart

It will be a fifth-place finish in the regular season for the Mansfield Junior Cubs in the North Dufferin Baseball League (NBDL) this year.

The Cubs gave up a loss to the Orangeville Bengals on Thursday, July 13, on the diamond in Mansfield, but that won't change their place in the standings.

The Cubs started off well in Thursday's game when Cody Bryan hit a single and stole second base.

A walk with the bases loaded brought in the first run of the night.

A hit from Coen Galbraith brought in another run to give the Cubs a 2-0 early lead.

The Bengals were on the scoreboard with a single-run home run in the second inning.

It was a tie game when a hit deep to centre field brought in the second Orangeville run.

Mansfield went ahead in the second inning when an error at second base allowed a runner to score.

It was the fifth inning that cost the Cubs the game when the Bengals scored two runs, then a hit to deep field allowed three runners to cross the plate to give Orangeville a 7-3 lead.

The Cubs got the bats moving with a successful sixth inning.

Bryce Cameron led off with a double, followed by another double from Dylan Brown that bought in a run.

Aidan Pain had the big hit of the night for Mansfield when he hit the ball over the fence for a two-run home run.

That was it for the night, and the Cubs had to settle for a 9-6 loss.

“I find we fall asleep in the three, four, five innings, and then they realize late it's time to wake up and come back,” said Cubs coach Lance Bryan. “We've been coming out strong for the whole second half of the year. We've been getting three or four runs in the first inning, tonight we got two runs in the first then fell asleep again until the last inning. They hit the ball well tonight – a lot of line drives, and not too many errors.”

In this year's NBDL playoffs, the bottom team will not make the playoffs. The top two teams, Orillia and Creemore, will get a bye in the first round.

This leaves four teams to play in the first round.

The Cubs will meet the Innisfil Cardinals in the first round of playoff action. The Orangeville Bengals will meet the Barrie Baycats for their first round.

The playoff schedule has not yet been determined.