Guelph Royals hang in there to edge Kitchener
GUELPH – With the wind blowing straight out of Hastings Stadium, making routine pop-ups a bit of an adventure for the fielders, the Guelph Royals just refused to give up in their Saturday afternoon Intercounty Baseball League encounter with the Kitchener Panthers.
The Royals struck for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge Kitchener 13-12. It was the only time in the game the Royals were ahead as they twice trailed by four runs and came back from a three-run deficit in the eighth for the win.
Guelph Royals 13 Kitchener Panthers 12
Kitchener had struck for four runs in the first inning as four of the Panthers’ first five batters registered hits off Guelph starter Emilis Guerrero. He’s always around the plate with his pitches and ends up yielding a lot of hits because of it. He went six innings Saturday, gave up eight earned runs off 13 hits, struck out five and didn’t walk anyone.
Ben Reid worked two innings, gave up four runs off four hits, struck out two and walked five. However, the eighth-inning rally made Reid the game winner.
Brandon Deans made his debut for the Royals in the ninth, walked two, struck out one and didn’t surrender a hit to get the save.
While the Royals trailed 4-0 at the end of the first inning, they tied it 4-4 by the end of the third only to have Kitchener shoot ahead 8-4 by the midway point of the fifth. The locals pulled even with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers scored three in the top of the seventh. The Royals got one back in the bottom of the inning before Kitchener negated that with one in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kitchener’s Nathan Laird walked Brando Leroux before getting Dalton Pompey to fly out to centre. A walk to Connor Morro brought Laird’s outing to an end. Andy Leader came in and walked Malik Collymore to load the bases. Josh Garton smacked a towering double that Kitchener centre fielder Blake Jacklin couldn’t find in the bright sky. That brought two runs home and Collymore tied it when he scored on a groundout by Tony Hyrnkiw. A single by Ethan Hammond knocked Garton in with the winning run.
The Royals had 10 hits in the game. Garton clouted his fourth homer of the season, all hit at Hastings Stadium, and he also had a double to knock in a total of four runs. Collymore had a homer and a single and Hammond hit two singles. Morro homered while Justin Interisano hit a double off the centre field fence and Hyrnkiw and Brandon Keys each hit a single.
Kitchener connected for 17 hits in the game with Jacklin hitting a triple, two doubles and a single to drive in three runs. Dreyden Sloat hit a three-run homer in the seventh to go with a pair of singles hit earlier in the game. Other hits were registered by Stephen Whalen (triple, single), Robbie Gauthier (two doubles), Keegan Marsden (double, single), Dan Mahoney (two singles), Jett Jarvis (single) and Evyn Sherman (single).
The Panthers used four pitchers – Christian Hauck (4 innings), David Bruinsma (2 innings), Laird 1 1/3 innings) and Leader (2/3 of an inning). Leader took the loss while the four combined to yield 10 earned runs off 10 hits and seven walks. They had six strikeouts – four by Hauck and two by Laird.
Deans and Hyrnkiw both made their debuts with the Royals in the game. Deans is a reliever from Mississauga who’s pitched for three seasons of NCAA baseball with the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies of Rochester Hills, Mich., while Hyrnkiw is an assistant catching coordinator with the Ontario Blue Jays from Brechin, Ont., who played two seasons with the Connors State Cowboys of Oklahoma.
The Guelph side is in a tie for third with the Barrie Baycats with identical 4-3 records. Welland Jackfish lead at 7-1 while London Majors are at 5-1, Hamilton Cardinals at 2-3, Kitchener at 2-4, Toronto Maple Leafs at 2-5 and Brantford Red Sox at 0-6.
The Royals are to play Toronto at Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m. and the Jackfish at the Welland Stadium Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Next home game is next Saturday at 1 p.m. against Hamilton.
The Royals have also rescheduled their game against Toronto that was rained out at Hastings Stadium May 21. The Royals and Leafs are now scheduled to play June 28 at Hastings Stadium. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Royals hang in there to edge Kitchener
GUELPH – With the wind blowing straight out of Hastings Stadium, making routine pop-ups a bit of an adventure for the fielders, the Guelph Royals just refused to give up in their Saturday afternoon Intercounty Baseball League encounter with the Kitchener Panthers.
The Royals struck for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge Kitchener 13-12. It was the only time in the game the Royals were ahead as they twice trailed by four runs and came back from a three-run deficit in the eighth for the win.
Guelph Royals 13
Kitchener Panthers 12
Kitchener had struck for four runs in the first inning as four of the Panthers’ first five batters registered hits off Guelph starter Emilis Guerrero. He’s always around the plate with his pitches and ends up yielding a lot of hits because of it. He went six innings Saturday, gave up eight earned runs off 13 hits, struck out five and didn’t walk anyone.
Ben Reid worked two innings, gave up four runs off four hits, struck out two and walked five. However, the eighth-inning rally made Reid the game winner.
Brandon Deans made his debut for the Royals in the ninth, walked two, struck out one and didn’t surrender a hit to get the save.
While the Royals trailed 4-0 at the end of the first inning, they tied it 4-4 by the end of the third only to have Kitchener shoot ahead 8-4 by the midway point of the fifth. The locals pulled even with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers scored three in the top of the seventh. The Royals got one back in the bottom of the inning before Kitchener negated that with one in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kitchener’s Nathan Laird walked Brando Leroux before getting Dalton Pompey to fly out to centre. A walk to Connor Morro brought Laird’s outing to an end. Andy Leader came in and walked Malik Collymore to load the bases. Josh Garton smacked a towering double that Kitchener centre fielder Blake Jacklin couldn’t find in the bright sky. That brought two runs home and Collymore tied it when he scored on a groundout by Tony Hyrnkiw. A single by Ethan Hammond knocked Garton in with the winning run.
The Royals had 10 hits in the game. Garton clouted his fourth homer of the season, all hit at Hastings Stadium, and he also had a double to knock in a total of four runs. Collymore had a homer and a single and Hammond hit two singles. Morro homered while Justin Interisano hit a double off the centre field fence and Hyrnkiw and Brandon Keys each hit a single.
Kitchener connected for 17 hits in the game with Jacklin hitting a triple, two doubles and a single to drive in three runs. Dreyden Sloat hit a three-run homer in the seventh to go with a pair of singles hit earlier in the game. Other hits were registered by Stephen Whalen (triple, single), Robbie Gauthier (two doubles), Keegan Marsden (double, single), Dan Mahoney (two singles), Jett Jarvis (single) and Evyn Sherman (single).
The Panthers used four pitchers – Christian Hauck (4 innings), David Bruinsma (2 innings), Laird 1 1/3 innings) and Leader (2/3 of an inning). Leader took the loss while the four combined to yield 10 earned runs off 10 hits and seven walks. They had six strikeouts – four by Hauck and two by Laird.
Deans and Hyrnkiw both made their debuts with the Royals in the game. Deans is a reliever from Mississauga who’s pitched for three seasons of NCAA baseball with the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies of Rochester Hills, Mich., while Hyrnkiw is an assistant catching coordinator with the Ontario Blue Jays from Brechin, Ont., who played two seasons with the Connors State Cowboys of Oklahoma.
The Guelph side is in a tie for third with the Barrie Baycats with identical 4-3 records. Welland Jackfish lead at 7-1 while London Majors are at 5-1, Hamilton Cardinals at 2-3, Kitchener at 2-4, Toronto Maple Leafs at 2-5 and Brantford Red Sox at 0-6.
The Royals are to play Toronto at Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m. and the Jackfish at the Welland Stadium Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Next home game is next Saturday at 1 p.m. against Hamilton.
The Royals have also rescheduled their game against Toronto that was rained out at Hastings Stadium May 21. The Royals and Leafs are now scheduled to play June 28 at Hastings Stadium. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal