By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Brewer freight train kept on rolling last night at Moulton Field with an 8-3 win over the Slappers. With that victory, the Brew Crew moved to 9-0 as they look to complete their second consecutive perfect regular season.
The Brewers, who were 16-0 at one point last year before dropping just one game in the finals on the way to their fourth straight Twi League title, look every bit as locked in this season.
And now, of course, the question of the summer must once again be asked: Who can stop this train?
The last team to do it was lined up across from the Brewers last night: The Slappers, who beat the Brew Crew three games to two in the Finals in 2020.
The Slap (5-3-1), the only other team in the league with a winning record in 2025, took the field as the Twi’s best hope to knock off the champs just once in the first meeting between the two this year. It didn’t turn out that way.
The Slappers took a 3-0 after their ups in the 3rd but the Brew Crew took advantage of sloppy Slapper defense and untimely wild pitches to tie it in the 3rd. In the end, the Brewers scored 8 unanswered on their way to a 9-0 record.
Brewers pitcher Chris Casey (6IP, 5H, 2ER, 7K, 1BB, 2HBP) was dominant for the final four innings, shutting out the Slappers when it mattered most to take control of this one.
The Slap hit first when leadoff hitter Cam DePrizio singled and then later with two outs came around to score on a Paul McGunigle knock.
Slapper starter Jake Barresi (5IP, 5H, 8BB, 8R, 3ER, 9K) walked three in the first but escaped with two strikeouts.
Casey entered the game in the 2nd and promptly struck out the side, sending a message to the Slap that a victory would likely need to be a low-scoring one.
DePrizio provided another spark in the top of the 3rd after getting hit in the helmet, stealing second and flying home on a Barresi base hit. Kevin Deleary later made it 3-0 with an RBI double to the gap.
The Brewers got back on track in the bottom of the 3rd. An error and a single put two on and a tough call at second on an attempted fielder’s choice loaded the bags. Baressi again got two strikeouts with the bases juiced but a passed ball during the first at-bat resulted in one run and a dropped third strike on the second made it 3-2. A wild pitch later evened the score.
Casey worked around a single and an error to escape the 4th and the Brewers took the lead for the good in the bottom half after Casey led off with a base hit and later two errors did the Slappers in again for a 5-3 Brew Crew lead.
Casey followed with a quick, shutdown inning in the 5th before the Brewers pulled away with three more. Steve Morganelli and Drew Betts hit singles to start it up and Tom Leahy’s RBI groundout made it 6-3. Another error made it 7-3. The Brewers’ only RBI hit of the day came on their final run as Colin Jeana connected with the bases loaded to bring one more home.
Casey finished strong on the hill and the Big Brew Machine kept on humming. The top two teams will have a rematch in the final game of the regular season on Aug. 7.
The bottom two teams will meet tonight as the Expos (3-6-1) take on the High Life (2-7). The Brewers play the Loafers (4-6) tomorrow night and the Slappers play the Unknowns (4-5) on Thursday night. All games will be 6 p.m. at Moulton.