Brantford Red Sox Week 13 Wrap Up

FRIDAY AUGUST 11 - WELLAND JACKFISH 3 BRANTFORD RED SOX 2

Welland (26-10) visited Brantford (7-27) for the final time in the regular season. For all of the Red Sox's struggles this year, they have held their own against the resource-heavy Jackfish for the majority of their innings played. Friday night would further that narrative along. 

Despite only managing 4 hits in the game, the Sox had a very winnable game in their hands. Unfortunately Brantford's bats would fail to come through when opportunity knocked, including bringing the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th, and the Red Sox drop a nail-biter by a final score of 3-2. 

Brantford starter Ricardo Alvarez De Lugo managed to yield just 2 runs on 7 hits over 4 and 2/3 innings of work. Danny Howat was stellar in relief, keeping the Sox in it by tossing 3 innings of scoreless relief. Brantford's lack of bats was their  downfall tonight however, with Nick Burdett being the only roster regular to get a hit. Jr. call ups Lucas Bateman (2) and Ethan Paulos had the other hits for Brantford. 

Saturday August 12 - London Majors 1 Brantford Red Sox 10

On Saturday the 7th place London Majors (13-22) visited the 8th place Brantford Red Sox. The Red Sox can still mathematically overtake the Majors in the standings, but it would require Brantford winning out the rest of the season combined with London going winless for the remainder -  so odds are unlikely that there will be a shift in the bottom of the standings heading into the playoffs.

Due to the league's scheduling London had not visited Brantford since May 26, and the two teams hadn't met since June 2. The Red Sox lost those first 3 matchup to the Majors by a combined score of 39-7. But today's Red Sox lineup looks a lot different than the opening month's version of the team. And it showed on the scoreboard tonight, as pitching and batting both wonderfully combined for Brantford in a decisive 10-1 win.

Red Sox starter Isaiah Ramos turned in his best start of the season - some may even say Player of the Week worthy  - going 7 complete innings and allowing just 1 run on 7 hits. Ramos struck out 6 while issuing an impressive zero walks. Also included in this performance was an immaculate 6th inning - 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches. Danny Garcia closed things out with 2 innings of shutout relief. 

Solid team effort at the plate as every member of Brantford's starting lineup reached base at least once. And Nick Burdett hit a 3 run homerun, his first since July 28 2022, to put the game out of reach in the 8th inning. 

SUNDAY AUGUST 13 - BRANTFORD RED SOX 2 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 17

Brantford (8-28) wrapped up the week visiting the 4th place Toronto Maple Leafs (17-18). After 2 competitive games this weekend, the Red Sox who we've been all too familiar with this season showed up on Sunday. Lacking both pitching and hitting, Brantford dropped this one 17-2. 

Starter Jeremias Sucre, who hasn't pitched for Brantford since July 14, showed his rust on his way to earning the loss. Sucre tossed 2 clean innings before a third inning meltdown that saw Toronto bat around, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits,. It's said that no lead is safe at Christie Pits, however the Leafs batted around again in the 5th scoring 7 more runs (6 unearned) off the bullpen to take a fairly safe two-touchdown lead. 

Brantford's short bench was hindered by home plate umpire Scott Cameron ejecting Brantford catcher Cris Ruiz in the 3rd inning. The reason for Ruiz's ejection was unclear from watching the YouTube broadcast, but Ruiz was seen asking for a new ball, and there was a lengthy pause before Cameron provided one. Cameron then objected to Ruiz's response and removed him from the game. Kieran Bowles had to move to catcher from 2nd base, and Nick Burdett took over at 2nd in a rare middle infield appearance. 

Christian Kuzemka led Red Sox batters with a pair of hits. And Jr. call up Lucas Bateman continued to impress, going 1 for 4 which gave him 5 hits and a .500 average over the trio of weekend games.

Week 14 Preview

Well it's finally here, the last week of the IBL regular season. Thanks to a couple of rained out games to be made up Brantford has 5 scheduled games left to wind things up before the playoffs:

• Wednesday August 16 at Barrie Baycats, 7:30 pm Vintage Throne Stadium
• Thursday August 17 at Welland Jackfish, 7:30 pm Welland Stadium
• Friday August 18 at Hamilton Cardinals, 7:30 pm Bernie Arbour Stadium
• Sunday August 20 vs. London Majors, 2 pm Arnold Anderson Stadium- bring a non-perishable food item for the Brantford Food Bank and be entered into a draw to win a pair of playoff tickets!
• Monday August 21 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 8 pm Arnold Anderson Stadium

Look for the playoff schedule to be announced later this week, as it is more than likely that Brantford and Welland will be facing each other in the opening round. Details will be announced on brantfordredsox.com and the team's social media channel when known. 

The Brantford Red Sox were founded in 1911 and have won 15 Intercounty Baseball League titles. Tickets are available online at brantfordredsox.com/tickets. Read about the Red Sox in the Brant Beacon, the official media partner of the Brantford Red Sox. 

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