Custodio does an Ohtani as Guelph Royals win
GUELPH – The Guelph Royals might have been without a couple of their big hitters Saturday, but they had Claudio Custodio.
He turned in what has almost become expected, a strong pitching outing, but he also served as the designated hitter and he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the Royals doubled the Hamilton Cardinals 8-4 at Hastings Stadium.
Guelph Royals 8 Hamilton Cardinals 4
“He’s so consistent,” manager Dino Roumel said of Custodio’s pitching. “Sometimes I look out there and it’s like a video game, he just puts the ball wherever he wants to put it. The velocity’s still up. He’s just a complete player. We’re calling him Ohtani today.
“The whole thing for him is he just dominates as a pitcher. He’s got great focus and he trusts his stuff. He gave up a couple of home runs today and he just came back and was throwing harder than he did the first couple of innings.”
At the plate, Custodio picked up his first hit and run of the game in the first inning. Leadoff hitter J.D. Williams doubled and Custodio followed with a single to send Williams to third. Custodio stole second before Malik Collymore was issued a one-out walk to load the bases. With two out, Ethan Hammond singled to score both Williams and Custodio to put the Royals ahead for good.
Hamilton got one back in the second, but Guelph got that one back in the third and then added two more in the fourth. The Cardinals scored two in the fifth before the Royals scored three in the seventh. Hamilton completed the scoring with one in the ninth.
Hammond finished the game with a double, two singles and two RBIs while Williams hit two doubles. Custodio, Dalton Pompey and Brando Leroux each hit two singles while Collymore and Justin Interisano each had a single.
“We have a lot of support from our junior team, but Ethan Hammond who’s off to a great, great start, we didn’t expect him to be the kind of impact player that he is,” Roumel said. “That gives us flexibility as we can move Malik into third base and still be good in the outfield. Again, the key for us is that we knew we got guys that were very versatile, but just the kind of impact that they are making on this roster is a great thing for us going forward.”
The Royals were without big boppers Sean Reilly and Josh Garton.
“We’re missing Garton today and Reilly today and other guys picked up the slack,” Roumel said. “We didn’t hit a lot of home runs, but guys contributed top to bottom.”
On the mound, Custodio tossed 110 pitches and held Hamilton to three earned runs off six hits, all of the runs coming on homers by Josh Niles (solo shot in the second) and Justin Gideon (two-run clout in the fifth). Custodio struck out 12 and didn’t walk anyone. Lukas Barry pitched the ninth for the Royals and he yielded an earned run off a hit, a solo homer by Tyler Duncan. Barry didn’t walk anyone or strike anyone out.
“He (Custodio) wanted to go back out there in the ninth, but we wanted to get Lukas’s feet wet in the Intercounty,” Roumel said. “He was (110) pitches so we’ve got to be careful how we do it. I think he’s only been over 100 pitches one other time so it’s a bit of a marathon for us and we want to make sure he’s right.”
Other hits for the Cardinals were singles by Tristan Osika, Laine Renaud, Sean Pettener and Tyler Giancos.
The Cardinals used four pitchers as starter Sam Turcotte went 3 2/3 innings and took the loss. He was followed by Drew Mainprize for 2 1/3 innings and Noah Falkenberg and John Felice for an inning apiece. They combined to surrender eight runs, four earned, off 13 hits and five walks and they struck out six.
Hamilton outfielders Gideon, in centre, and Renaud, in left, had a scary incident in the fourth inning when they collided as they were tracking down a fly ball. Both went down on the play, but remained in the game after getting checked out.
The Royals move to 5-4 on the season and are in a three-way tie for third with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Barrie Baycats who are both at 6-5. Welland Jackfish lead at 8-2 while the London Majors are at 7-3. Following the third-place tie are the Kitchener Panthers at 4-5, Hamilton at 2-6 and Brantford Red Sox at 0-8.
The Royals are scheduled to play the Baycats in Barrie Sunday at 7 p.m. and host Welland Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
GUELPH – The Guelph Royals might have been without a couple of their big hitters Saturday, but they had Claudio Custodio.
He turned in what has almost become expected, a strong pitching outing, but he also served as the designated hitter and he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the Royals doubled the Hamilton Cardinals 8-4 at Hastings Stadium.
Guelph Royals 8
Hamilton Cardinals 4
“He’s so consistent,” manager Dino Roumel said of Custodio’s pitching. “Sometimes I look out there and it’s like a video game, he just puts the ball wherever he wants to put it. The velocity’s still up. He’s just a complete player. We’re calling him Ohtani today.
“The whole thing for him is he just dominates as a pitcher. He’s got great focus and he trusts his stuff. He gave up a couple of home runs today and he just came back and was throwing harder than he did the first couple of innings.”
At the plate, Custodio picked up his first hit and run of the game in the first inning. Leadoff hitter J.D. Williams doubled and Custodio followed with a single to send Williams to third. Custodio stole second before Malik Collymore was issued a one-out walk to load the bases. With two out, Ethan Hammond singled to score both Williams and Custodio to put the Royals ahead for good.
Hamilton got one back in the second, but Guelph got that one back in the third and then added two more in the fourth. The Cardinals scored two in the fifth before the Royals scored three in the seventh. Hamilton completed the scoring with one in the ninth.
Hammond finished the game with a double, two singles and two RBIs while Williams hit two doubles. Custodio, Dalton Pompey and Brando Leroux each hit two singles while Collymore and Justin Interisano each had a single.
“We have a lot of support from our junior team, but Ethan Hammond who’s off to a great, great start, we didn’t expect him to be the kind of impact player that he is,” Roumel said. “That gives us flexibility as we can move Malik into third base and still be good in the outfield. Again, the key for us is that we knew we got guys that were very versatile, but just the kind of impact that they are making on this roster is a great thing for us going forward.”
The Royals were without big boppers Sean Reilly and Josh Garton.
“We’re missing Garton today and Reilly today and other guys picked up the slack,” Roumel said. “We didn’t hit a lot of home runs, but guys contributed top to bottom.”
On the mound, Custodio tossed 110 pitches and held Hamilton to three earned runs off six hits, all of the runs coming on homers by Josh Niles (solo shot in the second) and Justin Gideon (two-run clout in the fifth). Custodio struck out 12 and didn’t walk anyone. Lukas Barry pitched the ninth for the Royals and he yielded an earned run off a hit, a solo homer by Tyler Duncan. Barry didn’t walk anyone or strike anyone out.
“He (Custodio) wanted to go back out there in the ninth, but we wanted to get Lukas’s feet wet in the Intercounty,” Roumel said. “He was (110) pitches so we’ve got to be careful how we do it. I think he’s only been over 100 pitches one other time so it’s a bit of a marathon for us and we want to make sure he’s right.”
Other hits for the Cardinals were singles by Tristan Osika, Laine Renaud, Sean Pettener and Tyler Giancos.
The Cardinals used four pitchers as starter Sam Turcotte went 3 2/3 innings and took the loss. He was followed by Drew Mainprize for 2 1/3 innings and Noah Falkenberg and John Felice for an inning apiece. They combined to surrender eight runs, four earned, off 13 hits and five walks and they struck out six.
Hamilton outfielders Gideon, in centre, and Renaud, in left, had a scary incident in the fourth inning when they collided as they were tracking down a fly ball. Both went down on the play, but remained in the game after getting checked out.
The Royals move to 5-4 on the season and are in a three-way tie for third with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Barrie Baycats who are both at 6-5. Welland Jackfish lead at 8-2 while the London Majors are at 7-3. Following the third-place tie are the Kitchener Panthers at 4-5, Hamilton at 2-6 and Brantford Red Sox at 0-8.
The Royals are scheduled to play the Baycats in Barrie Sunday at 7 p.m. and host Welland Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal