The Middleton 29ers had one more hurdle to clear on Sunday if they wanted their fantastic season to continue: the hot-hitting Reedsburg Pirates.
Reedsburg, which features six players in their every-week lineup batting above .300, hit .322 as a team this season. That was sixth-best out of 44 Home Talent League teams.
Unfortunately for Reedsburg, it had to face Middleton's offense, which ranked No. 1 in the league. Oh, and they had to face Drew Farrell.
Middleton used a brilliant pitching performance from Farrell, had some timely hitting and tamed visiting Reedsburg, 7-1, to capture the Northern League Championship for the first time since 2013.
Middleton reserved a spot in the HTL Final Four, which begins Sunday. The 29ers open HTL play by traveling to Montello for a 1 p.m. game.
Stoughton and Dodgeville also qualified for the Final Four. The four teams all play each other in a round robin tournament over the next three weeks.