Written By Brian Lockhart

The Mansfield Junior Cubs have advanced to the second round of playoffs after eliminated the Barrie Baycats in two games in the preliminary round.

It was a best-of-three series, or the first team to reach four points in the event of a tie game.

The Cubs finished in fourth place in the regular season with an 8-4-2 record and
18 points.

Game one of the series got underway on Thursday, July 21, on the diamond in Lisle.

Cody Bryan started on the mound for the Mansfield team.

Barrie opened the scoring in that game in the first inning scoring one, then following up with three runs batted in on a hit to deep centre field.

Mansfield's Brodie Hunter led off in the first inning with a double on a hit to centre field.

That was followed by a double from Ben Nicholson that brought in two runs and put the Cubs on the scoreboard.

The Cubs closed the gap in the second inning when Bryce Cameron hit a single, then stole second and third base to get into scoring position.

Brodie Nicholson had another big hit that drove in a run and closed the scoring to one run.

The Cubs kept up the pressure and were scoring in the later inning.

They won game one of the series, 9-6.

Game two of the series was slated for Sunday, July 24, in Barrie, but heavy rain caused the game to be postponed.

The teams returned to Mansfield on Monday, July 25, with Mansfield hoping to seal the deal and the Baycats aiming to win to keep the series alive.

That game ended with a 10-0 Mansfield win and the Cubs earned the right to advance to the next round.

The Cubs will now have to wait out the other junior series to see who they will face in the next round of competition.