Panthers Bats Explode Again For 15 Run Win

Following a tough loss on the road Wednesday night vs the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Panthers demonstrated their ability to bounce back with an emphatic 15-7 victory over the Hamilton Cardinals on Thursday evening.

Jacob Douglas took the mound for his 2nd start of the season and delivered a gem of a start keeping the Hamilton bats quiet through 6 innings of work. He needed only 66 pitches to get through those 6 innings of work with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits.

David Bruinsma made his 3rd scoreless appearance of the season out of the pen giving up 0 hits or walks through 1 inning of work.

Offensively, Liam Wilson led the offence, hitting opposite field two run home runs in both of his first two at bats to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead through three innings. Wilson would finish his day going 3 for 4 with 4 RBI, 2 HR and 2 walks.

The Cardinals and Panthers traded a pair of runs in the fourth inning before the Panthers blew the game wide open, putting up 8 runs in the fifth inning. Including a Raul Gonzalez 3 run blast, his fifth of the season. He finished the day going 2 for 6 with 4 RBI and a HR. He is currently leading the league in bating average at .500, tied for the lead in home runs with teammate Elliot Curtis at 5 and leading the league in RBI with 16.

Blake Jacklin also had a pair of hits and walks as he scored 3 times. He is leading the league with 16 runs scored and on his 2nd base knock of the night, he reached the career milestone of 100 IBL hits in his young IBL career. It took the 21 year only 64 games to reach this mark as he has recorded an eye popping .372 career average to this point.

Other notable offensive performers from the contest included Andy Leader who went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI, Jett Jarvis who went 2 for 4 with a walk and three runs scored and Klaus Aplevich who went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI in his first start of the season at third base.

Yunior Ibarra also picked up an RBI double while Jorden Carthy and Stephen Whalen each had a hit.

Looking Ahead

The 5 and 2 Panthers will look to continue their hot start to the season as the team’s longtime rival, the Barrie Baycats (3-3) will visit Kitchener at Jack Couch Park for an afternoon contest on Sunday the 4th.

Tickets can be purchased at kitchenerpanthers.com under the tickets tab