Royals get victory as Custodio makes his seasonal debut
GUELPH – The Guelph Royals recorded their second consecutive win and fourth victory in five Intercounty Baseball League games Saturday night at Hastings Stadium with reigning league MVP Claudio Custodio on the mound for the first time this season.
Custodio, though, didn’t get the win as the Royals scored five runs in their final two innings at bat to score a 6-1 victory over the Hamilton Cardinals as they continued their pursuit of a fourth-place finish in the league.
Guelph Royals 6 Hamilton Cardinals 1
Custodio, who set a single-season strikeout record last year, went six innings in his seasonal debut, holding the Cardinals to two hits, an unearned run and he struck out 10 and didn’t walk anyone.
Yomar Concepcion took over in the seventh and became the winner thanks to a pair of eighth-inning runs. Concepcion held Hamilton hitless in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two and issued a walk.
Jared Kennedy had the save for keeping the Cardinals scoreless in his stint of 1 2/3 innings. He yielded a hit and a walk and had three strikeouts.
The Royals could have made it a lopsided victory with some early-game timely hits as they stranded 13 runners, twice leaving the bases loaded in scoreless innings.
Hamilton stranded four and grabbed the early lead with an unearned run in the fourth inning.
Guelph tied it in the fifth with an unearned run of its own. With one out, Josh Garton reached first on an error by Cardinals starting pitcher Nik Cardinal. Garton went to third on a single by Malik Collymore and scored on a double by Justin Interisano.
The Royals went ahead for good with a pair of earned runs in the seventh. Collymore tripled before Interisano was walked and replaced by pinch runner Ashton Patterson. A single by J.D. Williams scored Collymore and sent Patterson to third while a sacrifice fly by Ethan Hammond scored Patterson.
The hosts added their final three runs, all unearned, with two out in the eighth. A walk, an error, a wild pitch and a dropped third strike loaded the bases before a single by Williams and another error allowed the three base runners to score.
Cardinal went 5 2/3 innings on the mound for Hamilton before Kody Butt (2/3 of an inning), Stefan Strecker (1 inning) and Corben Peters (2/3 of an inning) followed. Cardinal allowed seven hits, Butt two hits and Peters a single hit. Cardinal walked three and Butt and Peters one each while Cardinal had seven strikeouts, Peters two and Butt and Strecker one apiece.
Collymore had three hits – a homer short of the cycle as he hit a triple, double and single. Robinson hit a double and single while Conner Morro and Williams each hit two singles. Interisano added his double for the other Guelph hit.
Luis Bernardo hit a double for Hamilton while Dennis Dei Banting and Tanner Rempel each hit a single.
The Royals are sixth at 13-18 while Hamilton is fifth at 15-16 and the Toronto Maple Leafs fourth at 14-14. Welland Jackfish, who’ve won nine of their last 10 games, lead at 31-24 while the Barrie Baycats are second at 20-10 and Kitchener Panthers third at 20-11. London Majors are seventh at 9-19 and Brantford Red Sox eighth at 6-26.
The teams that finish in the top four get home-field advantage in the quarter-finals.
The Royals have 11 games to go in their regular season including a home game against London that was postponed July 8 and needs to be rescheduled.
The locals are slated to play four consecutive road games in six days as they’re to play the Baycats at Barrie Sunday at 3:05 p.m., Majors at London Tuesday at 7:35 p.m., the Panthers at Kitchener Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and the Cardinals at Hamilton Friday at 7:35 p.m.
Next home game on the schedule is next Saturday (Aug. 5) again against Hamilton at 7:30 p.m. at Hastings Stadium.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Royals get victory as Custodio makes his seasonal debut
GUELPH – The Guelph Royals recorded their second consecutive win and fourth victory in five Intercounty Baseball League games Saturday night at Hastings Stadium with reigning league MVP Claudio Custodio on the mound for the first time this season.
Custodio, though, didn’t get the win as the Royals scored five runs in their final two innings at bat to score a 6-1 victory over the Hamilton Cardinals as they continued their pursuit of a fourth-place finish in the league.
Guelph Royals 6
Hamilton Cardinals 1
Custodio, who set a single-season strikeout record last year, went six innings in his seasonal debut, holding the Cardinals to two hits, an unearned run and he struck out 10 and didn’t walk anyone.
Yomar Concepcion took over in the seventh and became the winner thanks to a pair of eighth-inning runs. Concepcion held Hamilton hitless in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two and issued a walk.
Jared Kennedy had the save for keeping the Cardinals scoreless in his stint of 1 2/3 innings. He yielded a hit and a walk and had three strikeouts.
The Royals could have made it a lopsided victory with some early-game timely hits as they stranded 13 runners, twice leaving the bases loaded in scoreless innings.
Hamilton stranded four and grabbed the early lead with an unearned run in the fourth inning.
Guelph tied it in the fifth with an unearned run of its own. With one out, Josh Garton reached first on an error by Cardinals starting pitcher Nik Cardinal. Garton went to third on a single by Malik Collymore and scored on a double by Justin Interisano.
The Royals went ahead for good with a pair of earned runs in the seventh. Collymore tripled before Interisano was walked and replaced by pinch runner Ashton Patterson. A single by J.D. Williams scored Collymore and sent Patterson to third while a sacrifice fly by Ethan Hammond scored Patterson.
The hosts added their final three runs, all unearned, with two out in the eighth. A walk, an error, a wild pitch and a dropped third strike loaded the bases before a single by Williams and another error allowed the three base runners to score.
Cardinal went 5 2/3 innings on the mound for Hamilton before Kody Butt (2/3 of an inning), Stefan Strecker (1 inning) and Corben Peters (2/3 of an inning) followed. Cardinal allowed seven hits, Butt two hits and Peters a single hit. Cardinal walked three and Butt and Peters one each while Cardinal had seven strikeouts, Peters two and Butt and Strecker one apiece.
Collymore had three hits – a homer short of the cycle as he hit a triple, double and single. Robinson hit a double and single while Conner Morro and Williams each hit two singles. Interisano added his double for the other Guelph hit.
Luis Bernardo hit a double for Hamilton while Dennis Dei Banting and Tanner Rempel each hit a single.
The Royals are sixth at 13-18 while Hamilton is fifth at 15-16 and the Toronto Maple Leafs fourth at 14-14. Welland Jackfish, who’ve won nine of their last 10 games, lead at 31-24 while the Barrie Baycats are second at 20-10 and Kitchener Panthers third at 20-11. London Majors are seventh at 9-19 and Brantford Red Sox eighth at 6-26.
The teams that finish in the top four get home-field advantage in the quarter-finals.
The Royals have 11 games to go in their regular season including a home game against London that was postponed July 8 and needs to be rescheduled.
The locals are slated to play four consecutive road games in six days as they’re to play the Baycats at Barrie Sunday at 3:05 p.m., Majors at London Tuesday at 7:35 p.m., the Panthers at Kitchener Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and the Cardinals at Hamilton Friday at 7:35 p.m.
Next home game on the schedule is next Saturday (Aug. 5) again against Hamilton at 7:30 p.m. at Hastings Stadium.
- Guelph Sports Journal
