Baycats best Panthers in bullpen marathon
KITCHENER – With the Kitchener Panthers symbolizing their commitment to the Every Child Matters movement – dawning orange jerseys this afternoon at Jack Couch Park – they would fall 14-9 to the Barrie Baycats in the finale of their season series.
Twelve pitchers would take to the hill in this game, six for Kitchener and six for Barrie.
Panthers starter Dionys Rodriguez kicked things off by retiring every batter he faced in the first.
The hot start would be cut short however, with an eight-run second inning from the Baycats.
Jake Liberta, Brett Reid, Ernesto Punales, Gavin McLean, and Ben Hewitt would all throw for only six strikeouts combined through 7.1 innings.
The Panthers slow start would be remedied from a two-run homer from Petey Kiefer in the second inning.
Down 9-3 in the third, the Panther offense would come alive. Off the back of two RBI doubles from Josh Williams and Yosuke Fujie, Mateo Zeppieri would blast a no-doubter to right field – and Kitchener cut the lead down to one.
The Baycats would begin to pick up steam once again, to heighten activity in the bullpen for their opponents. Two homers off Barrie bats in the fourth and fifth would put the game away.
The Panthers will take to the field at Jack Couch Park again on Thursday night, when they welcome the Welland Jackfish for a 7:05 p.m. start.
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