Sox Can't Capitalize on Early Lead

by Brantford Red Sox staff

The Brantford Red Sox wrapped up the first half of their 30-game IBL regular season this past weekend. Brantford dropped their last 3 games on the road, and currently sit in 7th place in the IBL standings with a 4-11 record. The good news for the Red Sox is that only 3 wins currently separate 3rd and 7th place in the standings, so there is lots of room for movement in the 2nd half. Brantford now has a 4 game homestand over the next week, which kicked off with a visit from the Kitchener Panthers on Wednesday night.

Brantford's starting lineup sported a bit of a new look, with Jon Dziomba and Jason Pineda both arriving as US import players ahead of the 2nd half. Unfortunately for the Red Sox the shakeup did seem to spur on the team's offence but not enough to secure the win.

Both teams battled through a scoreless 3 innings before Brantford broke through in the bottom of the 4th inning. The Sox capitalized on hits, walks, and wild pitches to score 4. The lead didn't hold up for long however, as Brantford starter Kyle Lev gave up 4 straight singles and a hit by pitch to the first 5 Panthers batters he faced in the 5th. Kitchener took a 6-4 lead into the middle of the 5th.

Credit to the Brantford offence who responded with a pair of runs to even things up 6-6 after 5 innings. Unfortunately that was the extent of the team's remaining bats on the evening, while Kitchener went on to add 3 more runs. Your final score was Kitchener Panthers 9, Brantford Red Sox 6.

Gianfranco Morello led the charge for Brantford with 3 hits, a stolen base, and 1 RBI. Jesse Fishbaum contributed a pair of hits, 2 runs scored and a stolen base. Jon Dziomba worked a walk and then stole 2 bases in the 5th to manufacture a run in his Red Sox debut. Relievers Nick Davies and Gabe Bruder worked 5 innings combined, yielding just 1 earned run while striking out 7.

The remainder of Brantford's current homestand is:

Friday August 13 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 8pm - Country Night at the ballpark! Wear your best country attire for a chance to win a prize pack. Also, celebrate Friday the 13th at the ballpark with free admission for bikers.
Saturday August 14 vs. London Majors, 2pm - Brantford Minor Baseball Day. BMBA players wearing their jersey get in free, and have a chance to throw out the first pitch, family members enjoy half price admission. This is also our last day game on the regular season schedule
Wednesday August 18 vs. London Majors, 8pm

All home games take place at Arnold Anderson Stadium, tickets are available at brantfordredsox.com/tickets. Home games are also streamed live on our YouTube channel, be sure to subscribe and enable notifications so you don't miss any of the action!

Sox Can't Capitalize on Early Lead

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