Guelph Royals dumped by Chatham-Kent in season opener

A trio of pitchers for the Guelph Royals surrendered two homers apiece as the Royals were shellacked 16-2 by the host Chatham-Kent Barnstormers in their season opener Friday night at Fergie Jenkins Field.

Elvin Liriano, Jacob Kush and Andrew Case each yielded two round-trippers in the match as they combined to throw 177 pitches, 106 for strikes.

The Barnstormers scored runs in three innings, two of them big ones. They had eight runs in the third, six in the sixth and two in the eighth.

Kian Johnston amd Yushin Ohta slugged two homers apiece for Chatham-Kent while Thomas Green and Austin Gurney had one each.

The Royals had single runs in the seventh and ninth innings in the game that took three hours and five minutes to complete.

In the seventh, Deivis Nadal hit a one-out double for the Royals and he was knocked home by a two-out single by Liam Wilson.

In the ninth, Ryan Dos Santos and Deivis Nadal hit back-to-back singles and Dos Santos scored when Andy Leader grounded out for the second out of the inning.

The Royals finished with eight hits, stranded 11 runners and committed three errors. The Barnstormers had 16 hits, left 10 on and had no errors.

Nadal’s double was the lone extra-base hit by the Royals. Marcos Castillo and Garrett Takamatsu each had two singles while Nadal, Wilson and Dos Santos had one apiece.

Every batter in Chatham-Kent’s starting lineup had a hit. Other than the homers, Owen Constantineau had two doubles while Greyson Barrett, Mitsuki Fukuda and Julien Monks each had two singles and Yushin Ohta and Spencer Morin each had one single. Green had two stolen bases and Monks had one.

Starter Liriano yielded seven runs, six earned, off four hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings while Kush gave up seven earned runs off eight hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings and Case surrendered two runs off four hits and no walks. Liriano had five strikeouts and Case had one.

The Barnstormers used four pitchers in the game as starter Yuri Yokoyama went four innings, Aden Ryan and Mizuki Akatsuka went two apiece and Garret Day tossed the ninth. They combined for 148 pitches, 91 for strikes and each yielded two hits. Akatsuka and Day gave up one earned run apiece. Akatsuka had four strikeouts and a walk while Yokoyama had three strikeouts and three walks and Ryan had two strikeouts.

The Royals are to play the defending champion Welland Jackfish in the Jackfish’s home opener Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at the Welland Stadium.

They’re also to play the Majors at London Friday at 7:05 p.m. before hosting the Brantford Red Sox in their home opener at Hastings Stadium May 23 at 2 p.m.

CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Standings (W-L)

Welland Jackfish 1-0

Chatham-Kent Barnstormers 1-0

London Majors 1-0

Barrie Baycats 1-1

Toronto Maple Leafs 1-1

Kitchener Panthers 1-1

Brantford Red Sox 0-1

Guelph Royals 0-1

Hamilton Cardinals 0-1

• Guelph Sports Journal