Red Sox Offense Quiet in Canada Day Weekend Loss to Kitchener

On a hot but beautiful afternoon last week, the Brantford Red Sox hosted the Kitchener Panthers in IBL action. Wearing special white Canada Day uniforms, the team took the field with an undefeated local youth team, the Walsingham Senators (Walsingham is from nearby Norfolk County, near Langton).

The Sox have been scuffling this season sitting at 4-15. However, they have won some quality games which makes it seem like they are right there. And the team they were facing Sunday is the team closest to them in the standings, Kitchener. 

Connor Irvine took the mound for the home-side. Irvine is 1-1 on the year with a respectable ERA. He looked good on the hill to start. Helping him out was first baseman Christian Ortega, who made a great scoop to convert the double play to end Kitchener’s inning. 

Not to be outdone, the Panthers’ Yosvani Penalver made an outstanding catch off a linedrive in the gap from Brantford’s Cassidy Watt. 

Still scoreless, there was confusion at the batters’ box with the umpires before the third inning began. And that break may have thrown off the Brantford pitcher as his warmup pitches were well before this impromptu meeting at homeplate. The results were not good for Brantford as he delivered a four pitch walk to the next batter, Iyad Ansari. And you know what they say about leadoff walks– they’ll come back and haunt ya. And it did for Brantford. 

Ansari scored and the Sox didn’t help themselves by throwing it around behind Irvine (though no errors were actually given by the official scorekeeper). Regardless, Kitchener scored three in the inning to lead 3-0.

Pitching for Kitchener was Owen MacNeil and he looked totally in control most of the game. He only had two strikeouts but also walked just one batter. Brantford made a lot of contact, but it was mostly soft contact as MacNeil was dealing.

On one of the hard hit balls, Kitchener’s Yordan Manduley made a great play at short robbing Brantford of a hit. 

But perhaps the best play out in the field was that of the Red Sox! Pitcher Irvine released the pitch and milliseconds later was forced to deal with a hot-shot comebacker to the mound. It was probably more of a move made in instinctual self-defence more than anything but he made an outstanding catch on the spite hit back to the mound! On the play, Irvine made the catch, saved his face, and was further awarded by tossing it to first for the doubleplay on the hapless runner who stood no chance in returning to first-base after leading off. 

Finally in the seventh inning, still at 3-0 Kitchener, MacNeil gave up a legit hit! I knew he pitched well but I was stunned to see that this was the first hit of the day for Brantford! However, the double to the fence was to leadoff the inning so things looked good for the Sox to hang around in the game! But three pop-ups would exile that opportunity. Things felt bleak for the home side. 

Irvine pitched great for Brantford as well, with only that fluky inning resulting in runs. After seven solid innings, the Sox called on Colby Klepper out of the bullpen. Klepper too looked great pitching in relief, yielding no hits in two innings of work.  

In the ninth inning, last gasp for the Sox, down three, Rene Tachioka smacked a hit and stole second. He came home on a sac fly to get Brantford on the board! With the tying run at the plate, Brantford had a chance but in the end, it was not enough. Three hits in one game just isn’t enough for a team and so it was Kitchener to win this one, 3-1.