Burford Slo-Pitch: Bon Lane and Cement Heads fight to stay undefeated

By Jesse Ferguson, 4BRANT

Diamond A was still out of commission on Friday, May 25th due to a light standard being out, so the Burford Men’s Slo-Pitch league was trying a feat never before completed in the recorded history of the league– running three games consecutively on Diamond B. This tripleheader would feature a caveat, and that would be that the games just be seven innings rather than the customary nine.

First match of the day pitted Ackland’s, who were coming off an upset win last Wednesday when they defeated Bre Haul, playing against Davis Fuels today, who are still on the high of smacking Tota’s Farms around last week. Both teams were feeling good.

The umpire had not arrived at gametime and I, the officer of impartiality, was thrown into the fire of calling the game from the first row of the bleachers.

However, it only took a half inning (plus 1/3 the next half) for the umpire to stroll in and take over.

Davis’ made the first half inning easy for me, but then the next inning Ackland’s came out to play. Dave Zylstra put one out of the park on Diamond B.

Davis’ answered back though, finding all the holes in the Ackland field.

Then, my attention wavered. I looked at Diamond A and they were playing! It was the premier game of the week, between the undefeated Bon Lane and the undefeated Cement Heads, meaning I had to switch my post immediately.

Ackland’s was again on the romp and this game’s score seemed destined to resemble a football game with Ackland was ahead comfortably.

No score was reported at Diamond A– but the fans on the Cement Head half of the stands confessed just to not knowing.

However, Bushwacker Chris Leroux blasted a homerun and Bon Lane scored a bunch.

The field of Diamond A may not be well lit but the grass is cut to perfection. “Way better than Mt. Pleasant,” said Cement Head Brad Boakes. And he’s not the only one to complain of the Mt. Pleasant field as the home parks are widely preferred.

The League would just play the early scheduled game on Diamond A while the other three would be stuffed on B. It was rumoured that the fields at Mt. Pleasant were being occupied tonight.

The score was tied midway through the game with the Cement Heads already burnt through their homerun quota.

Cement Head Dave Stapleton made a diving stab at shortstop to limit the Bon Lane eighth, which saw them take control, scoring four. .

However, in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Brad Boakes hit a walk off homerun of sorts for the Cement Heads. If you recall, the Heads were out of homeruns, so this hit went for a long out. This unconventional walkoff “homerun” is not as glorious, and Boakes was not pleased.

Bon Lane wins 19-10 over the Cement Heads as the Bushwackers remain the lone undefeated team in The League.

In the other action amongst the tripleheader, Ackland’s did in fact take down Davis Fuels 29-13; the #Crunchers took out Burford Auto 27-16, and Tota’s Farms completed the defeat of rival Bre Haul 18-17.

On Wednesday, The League is back at it!

For last week’s article, click here.
For a look at the schedule and scores, click here.
For an update on the standings, click here.
For my other articles on 4BRANT, click here.

Pictured: For a stretch as wide as the eyes could see, the parking lot at Optimist Fields at Burford Arena dawned trucks. And more trucks. You could tell this was in Burford….