A shorthanded Barrie Baycats (18-10) barely held on to a 6-5 victory in Brantford over the Red Sox (6-22) after a late-inning breakdown at Arnold Anderson Stadium.
Barrie only had two relief pitchers available and needed to use them both in the eighth inning.
Baycats starter Juan Benítez (4-1, 3.26 ERA) got the win after seven shutout innings, while Colby Klepper (1-5, 5.40 ERA) was charged with the loss in his first IBL start.
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| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
Four of the Baycats' nine hits came in the first inning, leading to four runs.
Noel McGarry Doyle doubled to lead off, and two pitches later, Brandon Hernandez drove him in with a two-run home run. It's his second longball of the season, both against the Red Sox.
Interestingly, it was the first time in a while that the left-handed-hitting Brandon Hernandez had pulled a home run to the right side.
"It felt good from BP. I tried to stick to the same approach into the game and it translated," Hernandez said postgame. Last home run I pulled was rookie year (2019) in Dominican Summer League."
That 2019 homer was Hernandez’s only professional home run until he hit another with Trois-Rivières in the Frontier League in 2024. He had one IBL home run last year in 21 games and has now eclipsed his career-high.
Next, a walk to Brandon's brother Francisco and a double by Nolan Machibroda put two in scoring position for Tristan Clarke, who hit a sacrifice fly.
Clayton Keyes then hit an RBI single to score Machibroda and make it 4-0 through just one third of an inning.
Brantford mounted its biggest threat against the Barrie starter in the first inning, but Benítez shut it down by stranding two Red Sox.
"He was very efficient. He knew he had to go deep," Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame. The boys knew we were short-staffed with the juniors playing their elims this weekend, but we made it happen."
Barrie added on in the fifth off a sacrifice fly by Noah Hull, and again in the seventh on an RBI single by Clarke.
Both runs came in off Red Sox pitcher Pedro De Los Santos who was otherwise dominant. He allowed just three hits and one walk and put up 10 strikeouts in a six-inning relief performance after Klepper went three.
It's the most strikeouts in a game for De Los Santos since he was with London in 2022.
Chris Torres came on for Barrie in the eighth, and immediately got into trouble. He walked the first two batters of the inning, who came in on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Christian Ortega.
Ren Tachioka reached on an error by Brandon Hernandez, stole a base, and scored on a single by Cassidy Watt.
Torres walked two more batters before Matlow pulled him from the game. He threw 35 pitches, only 13 strikes. The converted infielder allowed five runs (two earned) and had four walks in just a third of an inning.
Baycats closer Carlos Sano entered the game and allowed a hit and a walk before an inning-ending strikeout of Jeremie Veilleux led to an emphatic reaction from the Dominican.
In the ninth, he stranded Tachioka, the would-be game-tying run at third base to secure his sixth save of the season.
STRENGTH OF SANO
Sano is having a dominant second IBL season. He's now 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA and six saves. His performance this year has brought out plenty of confidence from his teammates and manager.
"It feels good, like it feels like our closer is coming out to close the game," Brandon Hernandez said. "Close games like this brings out more energy, more grit. It's always good to have a consistent guy coming in, closing the game for us, winning it."
"It got to a point too where you live or die with your closer," Matlow said postgame. "I would do that all day...I'd like to have gotten him a clean inning, I'd like to have got him in the ninth inning, but that's in a perfect world."
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Red Sox shortstop Jakob Cantor, signed earlier Friday, proved to be the most productive hitter in the lineup. He was two-for-three with a walk. The only Brantford player with multiple hits.
Despite the team racking up eight stolen bases Friday, he surprisingly wasn't one to swipe one himself. The Philadelphia-native had had 20 stolen bases in his senior year at Ursinus College (NCAA Division III).
UP NEXT
Barrie hosts the Kitchener Panthers (12-19) for the first time this season Sunday. Cesar Rosado (4-3, 4.03 ERA) will start for the Baycats.
The Red Sox play Saturday on the road against the Guelph Royals (11-18).
