Aurora Jays set to face Ivy leafs in NDBL first round

August 1, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The Aurora Jays closed out their North Dufferin Baseball League season on Sunday with a 12 – 5 win over the Barrie Angels, though the score changed nothing in the final standings.
Finishing in a two-way tie for second place with the Bolton Brewers, who hold an identical 21-6-1 record, a tiebreaker bumped the Jays down to third and set up a date with the sixth-place Ivy Leafs.
Both teams enter the postseason on two of the hottest streaks in the AA league. The Leafs have come out on top in seven of their last eight games, crawling out of the league basement to a winning record, while the Jays have not lost since mid-July.
The season series was split between the two squads, with each winning on the other’s home field, the most recent score a 5 – 4 win for Ivy just over three weeks ago.
While Ivy finished with an impressive 187 runs batted in, good for fourth in the fifteen-team league, Aurora once again shone at the plate in bringing in 190.
One of the most consistently productive teams offensively in the NDBL, a number of Jays once again finished near the top of the league in batting statistics, including Chris Fafalios whose .473 average was good for second in the league.
Aurora’s Devin Wu, who earned Sunday’s win for his third of the season, has emerged as a presence to be dealt with on the mound along with teammates Rob Spencer and Thomas D’Andrade, who finished tied for second in the league with five wins to his name.
The New Lowell Knights emerged as the regular season champions for the second year in a row, nudging out the Bolton Brewers by five points.
The Knights will face the eighth-place Barrie Angels, the Brewers will face the seventh-place Midland Indians, and the fourth-place Clearview Orioles will battle the fifth-place Orangeville Giants.
Schedules will be released on Thursday following a league meeting, with the best-of-five first round set to kick off on Tuesday. Two rounds of best-of-five baseball will be followed by a best-of-seven championship series, culminating in mid-September.
For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.ndbl.ca.