Written By Brian Lockhart

It was one of the most exciting finishes to a baseball game this season when the Mansfield Junior Cubs won the first game of their second round North Dufferin Baseball League junior division playoff series against the Georgina Bulldogs.

The game was tied at three in the seventh inning when the Cubs took their last at-bat.

With one man on base, Ben Nicholson stepped up to the plate and hit the ball over the left field fence for a walk-off home run that gave the Cubs a 5-3 win in game one of the series.

“He's near the top of the league in this year's batting average,” said Cubs coach, Lance Bryan. “It was a walk-off for Ben Nicholson and he has been one of our better batters all year. I've had him in the three-spot all year. It was fast paced with no errors on either side. We stole bases well. It was a quick game. Both pitchers were on – it was their best pitcher and our best pitcher. Aaron Dempsey started on the mound - he went 5-0 for us during the year and had a playoff win in the first round.”

It was a fast paced game with lots of hitting and good defensive work by both teams.

Georgina opened the scoring in the
first inning.

The Cubs responded in the bottom of the first when Dylan Brown singled then stole second base. He was batted in for the first Mansfield run of the game.

The top of the third ended with no runs when the Cubs made a double play at first and third.

The Cubs scored again in the third when Ben Nicholson stole second base followed by a hit from Aidan Pain that brought him across the plate for a 2-1 Mansfield lead.

Georgina scored in the fourth inning to make it a 2-2 game. The Bulldogs went ahead by a single run in the fourth inning.

A hit to deep right field by Jake Armstrong in the fifth inning brought in the tying run to make it a 3-3 game.

When Georgina failed to score in the final inning, the Cubs had one last chance to break the tie and Nicholson stepped up and got the job done.

Game two of the best-of-three series took place on Tuesday, August 9, with results not available at press time.

If necessary, game three of the series will be back in Mansfield on Thursday, August 11.

The first pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m.