Cannons complete the sweep against Merritton to advance to league finals

The Fort Erie Cannons have a chance to win it all after completing a three-game sweep against the Merritton Alliance in the semifinals of the Niagara District Baseball Association (NDBA) playoffs.

The local squad punched their ticket to the finals on Sunday night by beating Merritton 7-6, and will now face the Beamsville Yellow Jackets, starting with game one Wednesday night at Oakes Park.

There were a lot of ups and downs during the regular season, starting comfortably with a 6-3 record before an eight-game losing streak arrived.

“It’s been a long time since we had one of those,” manager Justin Hall told Fort Erie Radio moments after Sunday night’s win.

“We got bit by the injury bug pretty bad and lost some key players,” he said about the regular season woes that led to finishing two games under .500 with a 11-13 record.

But the team eventually got healthy and back on track, he said.

The Cannons won the NDBA senior championship in 2022 and lost in the semifinals to Beamsville last year.

They were the “top dog” team all year in the league, finishing with a 19-2 record, said Hall.

The Cannons wrapped the five-game season with a sweep on Sunday night in Merritton by going up 3-0 in the top of the first inning, but the Alliance trimmed that lead by answering back with two runs in the bottom of the first.

Fort Erie put four more players across home plate a couple of innings later, but the home team responded and tied the game 6-6.

In the top of the fifth inning, a single off the bat of Nick Weglarz cashed in the game-winning run and the Cannons bullpen was able to shut down the Alliance’s offence for the last three innings.

Beamsville swept the Welland Pioneers in the other semifinal round to get to the championship round.

Wednesday’s game in Fort Erie is set to start at 7:30 p.m. but it’s possible the first pitch may not be thrown until 8 p.m., said Hall.

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