WIth nothing left to gain in the 2026 COBA Major regular season, the Milton Red Sox traveled across the 401 West to finish their season series with the Johnson Division leading Waterloo Tigers.

The Tigers had the regular season division title locked up, and with the Sox cemented as the 4th seed for the upcoming COBA Major playoffs - more at the end of this article - both teams used the game as a tune up. With the post-Senior Qualifier attendance hangover in full-effect, the Red Sox were never in the game, putting up some late action - taking the Tigers to their last at-bat in order to finish them off, laying a 17-7 egg at Bechtel Park Stadium on Sunday night.

Milton would get going in the first when Josh Maxwell grounded out scoring Luke Crowley, who had walked to lead off the inning and advanced via Ben Bishop's free pass, and a fortiutous passed ball.

Waterloo answered right back in the home half of the first putting up a 3-spot - another in the 2nd, and put the game away in the 4th, scoring 9 runs. 

Down 16-2 and facing the 7th inning mercy, the Sox' bats awoke scoring 5 times in the 7th. Eric Beharri sharply grounding out cashing one; Nathan McCourt lashed a single plating another, and Adrian Cookson doubled down the right field line scoring two more. Nathan Hamel pushed across the necessary-stay-alive run with an RBI groundout of his own to force the Tigers to bat at least one more time.

Waterloo would load the bases in their subsequent 7th inning and end the game on a wild pitch. That. Kinda. Night.

Dylan Clark started for Milton, throwing 3 innings, allowing 8 hits, 5 runs (3 ER), stiking out 1. Rhys Tapper, Sam Savard, Beharri, and Cookson finished the mound work for the Red Sox.

Offensively, Cookson led with 2 RBI on a 1-for-3 night at the plate. Aaron Nash, Brendan Mahoney, and Clark each collected 2 hits for Milton.

WIth the regular season now complete (a last-ditch effort to re-schedule with Brampton failed for a 3rd time by weather), the Red Sox will end the 2026 COBA Major season this weekend as they compete for the COBA playoff crown at the 9th Line Sports Park in Mississauga. August 15-16. As forementioned; Milton will be the 4-seed for the playoffs and draw the winner of the Friday play-in game between Oakville A's and Erindale Cardinals. The Sox' first game will go off Saturday at 11 am. Milton will then have another crack at the Waterloo Tigers, as the two teams hook up at 5 pm. Advancing to Sunday for all teams hinges on the results of the Saturday slate of games. Milton batted their way to the 2025 COBA Major final against the Oakville A's, eventually bowing 16-12.