Guelph Royals suffer rare blanking in loss to Kitchener
GUELPH – Five three-up, three-down innings pretty much sealed the fate of the Guelph Royals as they were blanked 4-0 by the Kitchener Panthers in Intercounty Baseball League play Saturday night at Hastings Stadium.
It was the first scoreless game of the season for the Royals who trailed before they ever went to bat for the first time thanks to a two-run homer by Kitchener’s Liam Wilson in the top of the first inning.
Kitchener Panthers 4 Guelph Royals 0
It was the first time the Royals had been shut out since dropping a 3-0 decision Aug. 21, 2020 to the London Majors in an exhibition game in the COVID-cancelled season, a game played so the Majors could continue their stretch of consecutive years playing on their home field.
The Royals were also downed 10-0 by the Hamilton Cardinals Aug. 10, 2019 in a quarter-final playoff game in Hamilton.
Their previous regular-season blanking was a 6-0 loss to the Panthers in Kitchener July 19, 2019.
The score could’ve been a lopsided one had Kitchener been able to convert more of their base runners. They stranded 13 in the game while the Royals left seven on, most disappointing was leaving the bases loaded in the seventh.
After getting two runs in the first inning, the Panthers added single runs in the third and fourth innings to complete the scoring in the game.
Hector Yan took the loss for the locals. He yielded all four runs, three earned, off six hits and four walks in five innings. He had nine strikeouts.
Darren Shred and Brandon Deans each pitched two innings. Shred had three strikeouts while Deans had four, but gave up two hits and two walks.
Yamichel Perez collected the win for Kitchener. He allowed four hits, didn’t walk anyone and struck out eight.
Jose Vasquez allowed two hits and a walk during his two-inning stint when every out was a strikeout (six of them). Brady Schnarr struck out one in the ninth.
Ethan Hammond had a double, Guelph’s lone extra-base hit of the game, and a single while Brendan Keys hit two singles. Getting one hit apiece were Claudio Custodio and Kyle Kush.
Wilson’s first-inning homer was Kitchener’s lone extra-base hit of the match. Jett Jarvis hit two singles while Blake Jacklin, Andy Leader, Raul Gonzalez, Yunior Ibarra and Humberto Ruiz each had one.
The four runs scored in total in the game was well under the league average of 14.5 runs per game.
The result leaves the Royals at 17-21, good for fifth in the eight-team league. With eight days left in the regular season, barring rainouts, Guelph can finish anywhere from fourth to seventh.
Welland Jackfish lead at 28-10 while the Barrie Baycats (24-13) and Kitchener (25-14) are both 3.5 games behind. The Toronto Maple Leafs are fourth at 18-18 while the Hamilton Cardinals (16-22) are sixth, London Majors (13-23) seventh and Brantford Red Sox (8-28) eighth.
Guelph’s quarter-final playoff opponent will be one of Toronto, Kitchener, Barrie or Hamilton with Toronto looking like the most likely of the four.
If the Royals are paired with the Leafs in their playoff opening best-of-five series, it’ll give both teams an interesting scenario to complete their regular seasons next weekend as they’re to play each other twice – Saturday at Hastings Stadium at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at Toronto’s Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m.
Before those games, the Royals are scheduled to play London twice as they’re to meet in a rescheduled game Tuesday at Hastings Stadium at 7:30 p.m. before clashing at London’s Labatt Park Wednesday at 7:35 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Royals suffer rare blanking in loss to Kitchener
GUELPH – Five three-up, three-down innings pretty much sealed the fate of the Guelph Royals as they were blanked 4-0 by the Kitchener Panthers in Intercounty Baseball League play Saturday night at Hastings Stadium.
It was the first scoreless game of the season for the Royals who trailed before they ever went to bat for the first time thanks to a two-run homer by Kitchener’s Liam Wilson in the top of the first inning.
Kitchener Panthers 4
Guelph Royals 0
It was the first time the Royals had been shut out since dropping a 3-0 decision Aug. 21, 2020 to the London Majors in an exhibition game in the COVID-cancelled season, a game played so the Majors could continue their stretch of consecutive years playing on their home field.
The Royals were also downed 10-0 by the Hamilton Cardinals Aug. 10, 2019 in a quarter-final playoff game in Hamilton.
Their previous regular-season blanking was a 6-0 loss to the Panthers in Kitchener July 19, 2019.
The score could’ve been a lopsided one had Kitchener been able to convert more of their base runners. They stranded 13 in the game while the Royals left seven on, most disappointing was leaving the bases loaded in the seventh.
After getting two runs in the first inning, the Panthers added single runs in the third and fourth innings to complete the scoring in the game.
Hector Yan took the loss for the locals. He yielded all four runs, three earned, off six hits and four walks in five innings. He had nine strikeouts.
Darren Shred and Brandon Deans each pitched two innings. Shred had three strikeouts while Deans had four, but gave up two hits and two walks.
Yamichel Perez collected the win for Kitchener. He allowed four hits, didn’t walk anyone and struck out eight.
Jose Vasquez allowed two hits and a walk during his two-inning stint when every out was a strikeout (six of them). Brady Schnarr struck out one in the ninth.
Ethan Hammond had a double, Guelph’s lone extra-base hit of the game, and a single while Brendan Keys hit two singles. Getting one hit apiece were Claudio Custodio and Kyle Kush.
Wilson’s first-inning homer was Kitchener’s lone extra-base hit of the match. Jett Jarvis hit two singles while Blake Jacklin, Andy Leader, Raul Gonzalez, Yunior Ibarra and Humberto Ruiz each had one.
The four runs scored in total in the game was well under the league average of 14.5 runs per game.
The result leaves the Royals at 17-21, good for fifth in the eight-team league. With eight days left in the regular season, barring rainouts, Guelph can finish anywhere from fourth to seventh.
Welland Jackfish lead at 28-10 while the Barrie Baycats (24-13) and Kitchener (25-14) are both 3.5 games behind. The Toronto Maple Leafs are fourth at 18-18 while the Hamilton Cardinals (16-22) are sixth, London Majors (13-23) seventh and Brantford Red Sox (8-28) eighth.
Guelph’s quarter-final playoff opponent will be one of Toronto, Kitchener, Barrie or Hamilton with Toronto looking like the most likely of the four.
If the Royals are paired with the Leafs in their playoff opening best-of-five series, it’ll give both teams an interesting scenario to complete their regular seasons next weekend as they’re to play each other twice – Saturday at Hastings Stadium at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at Toronto’s Christie Pits Sunday at 2 p.m.
Before those games, the Royals are scheduled to play London twice as they’re to meet in a rescheduled game Tuesday at Hastings Stadium at 7:30 p.m. before clashing at London’s Labatt Park Wednesday at 7:35 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
