Guelph Royals shut out Toronto Maple Leafs

Three pitchers combined on the shutout as the Guelph Royals blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 10-0 Wednesday at Toronto’s Dominico Field in Christie Pits.

Liam Watt, Brandon Deans and Kevin Escorcia allowed five hits, all singles, and two walks in the game and also totalled nine strikeouts.

Watt, who pitched in relief in three games for the Royals in 2023, made his seasonal debut Wednesday after signing with the team last weekend. He gave up four hits and a walk and had a pair of strikeouts in six innings. Deans followed with five strikeouts and a walk in two innings while Escorcia struck out two and surrendered a hit in the ninth.

The Royals had 16 hits and left 12 on base while the Leafs stranded six. Neither team committed an error.

Guelph scored a run in the first inning while all its other runs came in a four-inning stretch from the fourth to the seventh – one in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Antony Gilbert led the Royals at the plate as he smacked a homer, two doubles and a single to drive in a pair of runs. Conner Morro hit a double and two singles while Miguel Hiraldo hit a double and a single and J.D. Williams connected for two singles. Ryan Dos Santos clouted a homer while Ashton Patterson, Garrett Takamatsu, Victor Mascai and Deivis Nadal each had one single. Williams stole three bases while Morro and Matthew Ward each had one theft.

Spenser Ross, Benjamin Sitarenios, Dennis Dei Banting, Yordan Manduley and Matt Brandt each had a hit for Toronto.

Starter Camden Dimidjian (0-1) took the loss for the Leafs as he yielded five earned runs off eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. Kyle Poapst gave up two earned runs off three hits and two walks in an inning while the Royals scored three earned runs off three hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings with Frankie Gulko on the mound. Rolando Hermida kept Guelph scoreless in the final 2 1/3 innings. He yielded two hits and a walk. Dimidjian had four strikeouts while Hermida had two and Poapst had one.

Next up for the Royals is a pair of weekend games against the Kitchener Panthers. They’re to play Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hastings Stadium and Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at Kitchener’s Jack Couch Park.

CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Standings (W-L)

Barrie Baycats 8-3

London Majors 8-4

Welland Jackfish 7-4

Hamilton Cardinals 6-4

Chatham-Kent Barnstormers 5-6

Guelph Royals 5-6

Kitchener Panthers 5-7

Brantford Red Sox 2-6

Toronto Maple Leafs 2-8

• Guelph Sports Journal