The Coldest Brew In The Fridge Award is given to the player on the BrewCrew that is most deserving over the week's baseball games.  Every week begins on a Monday and ends on a Sunday night but is not given out in most cases till the next day, Monday morning. 

With the offensive explosion happening this week, there were plenty of candidates to choose from to be this week's Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award.  The top five contenders for this week are Dre Jones, Johnny Bandzwolek, Holden Marshall, Tommy Mazurkiewicz and Andy Welling.  Dre Jones played in two out of the three games.  He had four hits in nine at bats including a lead off homerun in the victory over the Blue Wave and the game winning run against the Trojans after doubling down the line.  Johnny Bandzwolek started all three games and went 3/8 including a homerun, 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored.  Holden Marshall also played in all three games.  Marshall went 5/9 with three runs and two extra base hits.  He also had a pinch hit single in the final inning of the loss against the Pirates in an attempt to start a rally.  Tommy Mazurkiewicz played in two games and batted .500 with 4 RBIs.

But the winner is Andy Welling.  The 36 year old tied the team lead for the week in hits (5) and runs (4) and second in RBIs (3).  Welling had a big single against the Pirates to keep a two out rally going and score a run. He recorded two runs against the Trojans and had three hits on Sunday's win over Patuxent.  Congratulations to Welling, a first time winner in his second season with the BrewCrew.

There are several deserving players for the BrewCrew's coveted weekly award, the Coldest Brew in the Fridge.  The BrewCrew's three starting pitchers, EJ Nadolny, Steve Cooke and Mike Latona combined to go 16 innings, allowing no runs and 22 strikeouts.  And the BrewCrew scored 29 runs, leaving plenty of offensive players to pick.  The top contenders were Steve Cooke, EJ Nadolny, Dre Jones and Zach Nadolny. 

Steve Cooke threw the second no hitter of BrewCrew history and made it look easy with twelve strikeouts.  But he did allow two runs on Tuesday night against the Dodgers to tarnish his otherwise perfect week.  EJ Nadolny also had an excellent start, throwing five innings scoreless against the Dodgers with only three baserunners.  But that was the only outing Nadolny had on the week.  Zach Nadolny also was on his A game this week.  Nadolny batted .500 including a double, homerun and 5 RBIs.

But the winner is Dre Jones.  Dre scored two runs in each of the games this week and batted in five, four on a grand slam.  Dre hit the ball particularly well over the weekend.  He launched a grand slam over the centerfield wall and hit two doubles.  One off the wall down the left field line and another that two hopped the 420 sign in left center.  Jones squared the ball up all week and is the first position player to win the award this season.

For the third time in four presentations of the Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award, Steve Cooke is taking it home.  The winner now of 18 beers, left everything on the mound in West Baltimore.  The tough luck loser, was anything but that.  He took a one hit shutout in the 9th where he was beat by the second hit of the game.  Another outstanding performance is well deserving of an ice cold brew, and Groundball Steve's next one will be on the BrewCrew.

Here's to hoping the offense comes alive this week!

In a week the BrewCrew only lead for one inning and scored a total of 11 runs (7 in one inning) in four games, it was rather easy to eliminate all offensive players.  And who is more deserving, than the man that recorded the lone win on the week.  For the first time in his five year career, Devon Jerrard.  Jerrard was utterly dominant in most of his innings this week.  He recorded 13 strikeouts and only 3 hits allowed over 7 innings (2 relief appearances) and finished the week with a 1-1 record.  Congrats to Jerrard as he looks forward to his next start against the Chesapeake Brewers on Sunday, June 10th.

Although this is a weekly award, because of the rain in the are through May, several games were cancelled.  The result is, that only three games were played between April 29 and May 29th so the award is awarded to the Coldest Brew of the Month.  The prize is going to Steve Cooke once again, due to his complete game shut out of the Annapolis Pirates where he fanned 18 and allowed two hits.  Let's all congratulate Steve on his excellent month of May.

The Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award is a weekly award given to the the "Player of the Week" on the Baltimore BrewCrew.  This week is special because we are including the Battle of Baltimore Preaseason Tournament along with our first gmae of the season.  There are plenty of candidates for the Coldest Brew in the Fridge, as the BrewCrew were able to Co-Champion the Battle of Baltimore and win their first Chesapeake regular season game on the way to a 4-1 "week".

Rookie Mike Latona threw 4.1 shutout innings in his first career start on his way to a win against the Patuxent Blue Wave.  He also batted .429, scored three runs and batted in four.  Kenny West also had a great week, batting .400 with 5 RBIs and 4 runs scored.  Sean Welling was also had a great week, batting .333 with the only BrewCrew HR, 5 RBIs and 3 runs.  He also threw 2.2 innings scoreless.

But the winner is Stephen "Groundball" Cooke.  He was an absolute terror for opposing offenses finishing with four games pitched, 9.1 innings, 0.75 ERA, three hits, 2 wins, and 2 saves (tying BrewCrew season record).  He pitched in every game that the BrewCrew has won so far this season, leading them to a 4-1 record thus far.  

The BrewCrew has two games this week.  Next up is the Chesapeake Red Sox at Annapolis HS on Wednesday at 7.

The offense has begun to boom as July has begun.  Just in time for playoffs.  There were three standouts, including Dre Jones, Zach Nadolny and Ryan Welling.  Dre batted .600, scored eight runs, hit two homeruns and one double while stealing three bags.  Since the move back to the top of the order, Dre has flourished.  While this week was great, it was not top Brew.  Zach Nadolny batted .588 with eight runs, four RBIs, and two doubles.  He led the team with 10 hits while throwing a scoreless innings.  While it is good numbers, he still didn't win.

Ryan Welling is this week's Coldest Brew.  He batted .471 with 12 RBIs, two homeruns, four doubles and a triple.  The slugging catcher has made a presence in the middle of the order and is making a push for Rookie of the Year, not to mention MVP. 

We look for all three of the standouts to carry this over into the playoffs where the BrewCrew hope to be contending for a Susky League title.

In a light week for the BrewCrew, there were several contenders.  Including Steve Cooke who notched a win over Gildea Raiders.  Or Kenny West who slugged two homeruns.  But the most deserving was Mike Devecchio.  Not only did he bat .600 with three RBIs and a homerun, he also had the game winning hit to deliver the 9-8 win in comeback fashion.  It was the team's first win over Gildea, after going 0-4 against the powerhouse over the last two seasons.  Over the last three seasons Devecchio has wowed in all parts of the game, including hitting, pitching and defense.  The two time Cy Young winner has been a key asset to the team and looks to stay on top his game as the season draws to a close and playoffs begin.

Johnny Bandzwolek has made a habit of hot hitting streaks since becoming a member of the BrewCrew in 2014, when he won Rookie of the Year.  And this week could be the start of another Bandzwolek tear.  He did not start against the Maryland Monsters to open the week, but made his presence known.  He pinch ran and stole second and later scored one of the BrewCrew's only two runs.  Then he slugged over the weekend.  Finishing with .667 batting average and two homeruns to go along with his three RBIs made himself standout.  Matt Gabrielski also stood out as a candidate but with the same number of hits but Bandzwolek had the edge on the base paths to get his his first sixer of the year.

We look forward to a hot hitting Johnny Baseball as the year progresses.

In a week that had highs, such as the 33-0 season ending beat down of the Perry Hall Back Door Sliders, and lows, such as the 10- beating delivered by the Chesapeake Dodgers, one man stood out.  Dre Jones batted .667 on the week with seven runs, 12 RBIs, two doubles and a homerun.  Dre did a lot of damage against the Sliders since every one of his at bats came with the bases loaded.  But he came through every time.  Then he followed that up with back to back big games against the Rattlers over the weekend.

The BrewCrew looks forward to more action from the top of the order hitter as the season progresses.

On a week where there were only two games, the two-time BrewCrew MVP stood out as a man amongst boys.  The only other contender was Steve Cooke, who threw a great game against the Susquehanna Assault in the team's 2-1 loss.  But Zach hit and pitched as well as he has all season.  Against the Assault, he finished 1/3 with a double and the team's only RBI.  In the second game of the week, he hit a homerun and went 3/4 while throwing three perfect innings with six strikeouts.  He finished with 4/7 with two doubles, one homerun, three runs and four RBIs.  Also had three innings with six strikeouts and no baserunners.

Nadolny looks to keep the momentum going as we near the halfway point.

In a week that there was only one game there were very few options for the Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award.  The offense could only muster two hits and no runs so it would have take a diamond of a pitching performance to keep the BrewCrew in the game.  And Ryan Taylor delivered just that.  He threw ten shutout innings with the hope that the offense could score one.  But they did not and Taylor did not get a win for his efforts.

This BrewCrew rookie is yet to allow a run on the season and is a rookie of the year and Cy Young award candidate.

The BrewCrew did not have their best week but there were a couple solid performers.  Devon Jerrard started the week off with a bang with a 4.2 inning start against the Dodgers that included 7 strikeouts and a win.  Ryan Taylor backed up that outing with a six inning shutout in the first tournament game against Martinsburg where he struck out 10 Blue Sox.  And then there was Ryan Welling.  Welling missed the first game of the week against the Dodgers but responded with a breakout performance.

Ryan went 5-12 on the week with three homeruns and 9 RBIs.  He was the only player to get a hit in every game of the Reno Powell Invitational.  Ryan is a La Salle graduate, where he play 4 years of varsity baseball.  His senior season, Ryan batted .313 with four homeruns and 39 RBIs.  He also had 19 doubles over 50 games.  We look forward to having Ryan behind the plate as the season advances and he continues to contend for Rookie of the Year.                                                                           

This week's Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award could have went to several individuals.  Devon Jerrard flashed some fancy glove work since taking over as starting second basemen while adding a hit in every game, 3 RBIs and 2 runs.  Zach Nadolny went 4/9 with three doubles and driving in 4 runs.  EJ Nadolny threw 5.1 with 0 earned runs against the Dodgers and Sam Beatty threw five innings of scoreless baseball against the Rattlers.  Ryan Welling added three hits and drove in seven runs.  Kenny west went 5/10 with 4 RBIs and 5 runs scored while playing flawless at shortstop.

But the winner of this week's six pack is Matt Gabrielski.  The 2017 rookie was part of the expansion deal with the Dundalk Brewers.  Gabrielski went 4/7 with a homerun and 8 runs scored.  We look for great things from Matt as the 2017 season begins to unravel.

The First Coldest Brew in the Fridge Award goes to Kenny West for his effort in the 2017 Battle of Baltimore.  Although the BrewCrew fell short in this year's tournament, it was not due to his effort.  West hit a grand slam in the first game and continued to drive the ball all tournament while playing a perfect short stop defensively.  West finished 4/7 with 11 RBIs and a homerun.

SS- Kenny West