LINESCORE
CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Toronto 200 602 200— 12 17 3
Barrie 000 010 403— 8 11 4
Vasquez (L,3-1), Benítez (4), Pakkala (7), Encarnacion (9) and Ciprian, Barker (7);
Alvarado, Gulko (W,1-2) (5), Poapst (7), Sim (9), Lanigan (S,1) (9) and Brandt, Chialtas (7).
HRs: Tor — None; Bar — Rijo (3).
OTHER SCORES
Brantford 3 Kitchener 1
Hamilton 3 London 2
An offensive outburst came too little, too late for the Barrie Baycats (17-9) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (8-17) held on for a 12-8 win on Sunday at Athletic Kulture Stadium.
After getting down by as many as 11, the Baycats clawed back with four runs in the seventh inning and three in the ninth, making it an unlikely save situation for the Maple Leafs.
Alex Lanigan, who came in on short notice after fellow reliever Graham Sim left with an apparent injury, recorded the final out for his first CBL save since 2023. Ryan Rijo, who hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, was left in the on-deck circle as the potential tying run.
"It got to a point where you know we started doing the math, and if Francisco (Hernandez) got that hit down, then Rijo would have come up and potentially could have tied the game," Baycats manager Josh Matlow told Barrie360 postgame. "It became a game in the eighth inning... at the end of the day we didn't show up early."
Toronto effectively put the game away with a six-run fourth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate to build an 8-0 lead.
Dennis Dei Baning drove in two during the inning and was one of four Toronto hitters with multiple RBI. That group includes JJ Dutton, who went 4-for-6 with a double, and former Baycat Mike Cecchetto.
Baycats starter Saul Vasquez (3-1) took his first CBL loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. He also racked up four strikeouts, which keep him atop the league leaderboard tied with Hamilton's Hector Yan who fanned eight on Sunday.
It wasn't until the fifth inning that Barrie had finally scored thanks to an RBI single by Wandy Ciprian.
Maple Leafs starter Wilgenis Alvarado barely missed out on qualifying for a win, going 4.2 innings and allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out five and walking three. In relief, Frankie Gulko (1-2) picked up his first CBL win.
Barrie's struggles started at the top of the order. Through eight innings, the first three hitters combined to go 0-for-9 before Noel McGarry Doyle finally broke through with a two-run single in the ninth.
"It shows on the scoreboard exactly when that happens," Matlow said. "We need our top of the lineup to get on and set the table for the middle-of-the-order guys, and they didn't."
Clayton Keyes also had two RBI for Barrie.
Sunday's game was originally scheduled for Thursday and was rescheduled due to the poor air quality in Springwater.
UP NEXT
Barrie hosts Brantford on Thursday with Juan Benítez (1-2, 6.88 ERA) starting for the Baycats against Red Sox starter Kade Kozak (0-1, 8.80).
Toronto hosts Guelph on Wednesday with the Maple Leafs sending Yadian Martinez (1-4, 9.00) to the mound to face Royals starter Elvin Liriano (3-2, 4.42).
