Guelph Royals slip by London as pitchers fan 14
LONDON – Three pitchers combined to register 14 strikeouts and hold the London Majors to six hits as the Guelph Royals recorded a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at London’s Labatt Park.
The Royals came back from a one-run deficit after the first inning with two runs in the sixth inning and one in the eighth for the win. London’s other run came in the eighth.
Guelph Royals 3 London Majors 2
The win narrows Guelph’s finishing position in the league’s regular-season standings to either fourth, fifth or sixth.
Claudio Custodio started for the Royals and yielded the first-inning earned run off four hits and four walks in six innings. He had eight strikeouts.
He yielded singles to the first two batters he faced before a sacrifice fly to centre field by veteran Cleveland Brownlee drove in Andrew Lawrence with the run. Lawrence had singled and gone to third on the follow-up single by Tommy Reyes-Cruz.
Brandon Deans gave up an unearned run in the eighth. He was replaced by Yuki Narita with the bases loaded and nobody out after Brownlee reached on an error, Kayne McGee singles and Jordan Schulefand walked. Daniel Battel, the first batter Narita faced, connected with a 1-2 pitch for a fielder’s choice that scored pinch runner Charles Bowman with an unearned run.
Deans yielded the unearned run off a hit and two walks in an inning pitched. All three outs he recorded were strikeouts.
Narita, who picked up the save, also struck out three in two innings on the mound. He gave up a hit and didn’t walk a batter.
Back-to-back doubles by Justin Interisano and J.D. Williams accounted for the the first run for the Royals in the sixth. Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Keys after moving to third on an Ethan Hammond groundout.
In the eighth, Keys walked and went to second when a one-out error by the hosts allowed Kyle Kush to reach base. Both moved up a base on an Ashton Patterson putout before Conner Morro’s single scored Keys.
Williams and Hammond each hit a double and single in the game for the Royals while Morro hit two singles. Interisano clouted his double while singles were added by Mike Cecchetto and Kush. Morro also stole two bases.
Lawrence hit a double and a single for London while Reyes-Cruz, McGee, Brett Graham and Brad Verhoeven each hit a single.
Starter Owen Boon went six innings for London. He gave up two earned runs off seven hits and two walks to be charged with the loss. He had six strikeouts.
Wilbur Martinez pitched the final three innings and surrendered an unearned run off two hits and four walks. He had two strikeouts.
The loss locks London into a seventh-place finish They’re at 13-25 and can tie the Hamilton Cardinals (17-22) for sixth, but will lose the tiebreaker as the Cardinals won the regular-season series 4-2.
Welland Jackfish are at 29-10 and have clinched a first-place finish. They’ll play the eighth-place Brantford Red Sox (8-30) in the best-of-five quarter-finals that are to start next week.
Kitchener Panthers and Barrie Baycats are tied for second with 25-14 records. That position could be decided Sunday when the Panthers and Baycats are to meet at Jack Couch Park in Kitchener. The Panthers lead the season series 3-2.
Toronto Maple Leafs are fourth at 19-18 and can be passed by the fifth-place Royals (18-21). The Leafs have two games in hand on the locals and are to play the Royals at Hastings Stadium Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and at Toronto’s Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m. Toronto and Guelph are tied 2-2 in their season series with both teams scoring their two victories at home.
The Royals have to reschedule a home game against London that was rained out Tuesday while the Leafs are slated to play at Barrie Thursday and at Brantford Monday. They also had a home game Tuesday against Kitchener that was rained out and has to be rescheduled.
Hamilton, like the Royals and Toronto, can also finish anywhere from fourth to sixth in the final standings. They’re to play the Panthers at Kitchener Thursday and host Brantford Friday and Welland Sunday.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Royals slip by London as pitchers fan 14
LONDON – Three pitchers combined to register 14 strikeouts and hold the London Majors to six hits as the Guelph Royals recorded a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at London’s Labatt Park.
The Royals came back from a one-run deficit after the first inning with two runs in the sixth inning and one in the eighth for the win. London’s other run came in the eighth.
Guelph Royals 3
London Majors 2
The win narrows Guelph’s finishing position in the league’s regular-season standings to either fourth, fifth or sixth.
Claudio Custodio started for the Royals and yielded the first-inning earned run off four hits and four walks in six innings. He had eight strikeouts.
He yielded singles to the first two batters he faced before a sacrifice fly to centre field by veteran Cleveland Brownlee drove in Andrew Lawrence with the run. Lawrence had singled and gone to third on the follow-up single by Tommy Reyes-Cruz.
Brandon Deans gave up an unearned run in the eighth. He was replaced by Yuki Narita with the bases loaded and nobody out after Brownlee reached on an error, Kayne McGee singles and Jordan Schulefand walked. Daniel Battel, the first batter Narita faced, connected with a 1-2 pitch for a fielder’s choice that scored pinch runner Charles Bowman with an unearned run.
Deans yielded the unearned run off a hit and two walks in an inning pitched. All three outs he recorded were strikeouts.
Narita, who picked up the save, also struck out three in two innings on the mound. He gave up a hit and didn’t walk a batter.
Back-to-back doubles by Justin Interisano and J.D. Williams accounted for the the first run for the Royals in the sixth. Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Keys after moving to third on an Ethan Hammond groundout.
In the eighth, Keys walked and went to second when a one-out error by the hosts allowed Kyle Kush to reach base. Both moved up a base on an Ashton Patterson putout before Conner Morro’s single scored Keys.
Williams and Hammond each hit a double and single in the game for the Royals while Morro hit two singles. Interisano clouted his double while singles were added by Mike Cecchetto and Kush. Morro also stole two bases.
Lawrence hit a double and a single for London while Reyes-Cruz, McGee, Brett Graham and Brad Verhoeven each hit a single.
Starter Owen Boon went six innings for London. He gave up two earned runs off seven hits and two walks to be charged with the loss. He had six strikeouts.
Wilbur Martinez pitched the final three innings and surrendered an unearned run off two hits and four walks. He had two strikeouts.
The loss locks London into a seventh-place finish They’re at 13-25 and can tie the Hamilton Cardinals (17-22) for sixth, but will lose the tiebreaker as the Cardinals won the regular-season series 4-2.
Welland Jackfish are at 29-10 and have clinched a first-place finish. They’ll play the eighth-place Brantford Red Sox (8-30) in the best-of-five quarter-finals that are to start next week.
Kitchener Panthers and Barrie Baycats are tied for second with 25-14 records. That position could be decided Sunday when the Panthers and Baycats are to meet at Jack Couch Park in Kitchener. The Panthers lead the season series 3-2.
Toronto Maple Leafs are fourth at 19-18 and can be passed by the fifth-place Royals (18-21). The Leafs have two games in hand on the locals and are to play the Royals at Hastings Stadium Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and at Toronto’s Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m. Toronto and Guelph are tied 2-2 in their season series with both teams scoring their two victories at home.
The Royals have to reschedule a home game against London that was rained out Tuesday while the Leafs are slated to play at Barrie Thursday and at Brantford Monday. They also had a home game Tuesday against Kitchener that was rained out and has to be rescheduled.
Hamilton, like the Royals and Toronto, can also finish anywhere from fourth to sixth in the final standings. They’re to play the Panthers at Kitchener Thursday and host Brantford Friday and Welland Sunday.
- Guelph Sports Journal