Brantford Pulls Off Must Win In Barrie

by B. Young

As they finish out their regular season on the road, the Brantford Red Sox travelled to Barrie on Thursday night. The Sox and Baycats entered Thursday night's game tied 2-2 in their season series. Thursday night's game was a must win for Brantford if they hoped to improve their position in the IBL standings - with 10 wins going into the game the Red Sox currently sat 1 win behind the Hamilton Cardinals (11), and 2 behind the Baycats (12).

Brantford came out motivated and aggressive in the first inning, bringing 7 batters to the plate and scoring 2. The Sox continued to hit in the 2nd, sending 8 batters to the plate and scoring 4 more to take a 6-0 lead.

The Baycats would roar back in the 4th inning, scoring 4. The resilient Red Sox would answer right back in the 5th however, scoring a trio to take a 9-4 lead. Jason Pineda would launch a moonshot over the left field fence, his 2nd home run in as many nights, to extend Brantford's lead to 10-4 in the 6th.

In the bottom of the 6th with starter Bennett Moore's pitch count hitting triple digits, Barrie struck for 3 runs, cutting Brantford's lead to 10-7. Barrie would further chip away with a pair in the 8th. Brantford's once 6 run lead was now a slim 10-9 heading into the 9th inning.

After loading the bases in the 9th, Brantford's bats delivered some insurance. The line kept moving and the Sox batted around. They put up 6 runs to take some much needed breathing room into the bottom of the 9th with a 16-9 lead. This lead would hold and your Brantford Red Sox win 16-9. Brantford wins the season series with the Baycats 3-2.

Bennett Moore went 5.2 innings for Brantford, earning his first IBL win. Gabe Bruder went the rest of the game in relief, earning the save. Multiple Red Sox turned in a 3-hit performance (Deluca, Morello, Pineda, Reid, Gauthier) in a big team effort.

Brantford is right back in action on Friday night, visiting London to take on the 1st place Majors. Game time is 7:35 pm at Labatt Park.

Around the league: Brantford is now tied with the Hamilton Cardinals for 6th place.The Kitchener Panthers helped out Brantford by beating the Cardinals in both games of their doubleheader tonight, the sweep keeping Hamilton idle in the win column with 11. Brantford owns the potential tiebreaker with Hamilton by virtue of their 4-1 regular season record over the Cardinals.

The pair of wins also puts the Panthers currently ahead of the pack in the battle for 2nd place. With an 0-5 season record against the Panthers the Sox would certainly like to finish in 6th place and avoid a 1st round playoff matchup.

Brantford Pulls Off Must Win In Barrie

Related Links