A career-high 13 strikeouts from Cesar Rosado and some early run support helped the Barrie Baycats shut out the Hamilton Cardinals 5-0 Friday in game one of the IBL semifinals at Athletic Kulture Stadium.
Rosado accomplished the feat in just six innings over the course of facing 22 batters and throwing 99 pitches. He allowed three hits and one walk.
"The difference is I feel good tonight with my arm," Rosado said postgame. "This season I had problems with my arm, but tonight I prepared for that."
Rosado missed a start in the penultimate week of the regular season with the intent to prepare for playoff outings, and each appearance has looked better than the last.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Enrique Saldaña struggled through 1.2 innings along with a shaky defense. He allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks.
Barrie got an early lead and never looked back, earning its first shutout win since July 17.
"It's playoff pitching, so it wasn't easy to score runs, but we added that fifth and just gave us that cushion," Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame. "It felt like a lot more because they weren't really hitting."
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BARRIE LEADS SERIES 1-0
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 8 | 1 |
The biggest trouble Rosado got into was in the first. After Carlos Dominguez led off the game with a single, Rosado's pickoff attempt bounced past first and put a runner on third base with none out.
But he bounced back from his error and retired the next three batters, including 2023 IBL MVP Tyler Duncan, whom he struck out.
The initial plan from Baycats manager Josh Matlow pregame was to have Rosado get through the Cardinals order at least twice, but was pleasantly surprised the longevity and efficiency in this outing.
"You saw the 2024 Cesar," Matlow said. "His pitch count was low, it made a lot of sense."
Rosado has been very successful in his career against Hamilton, holding the Cardinals to just seven earned runs on 15 hits with 39 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Interestingly, he partly credits it to Cardinals pitching coach Ángel Castro.
"I know him from the Dominican Republic, and he knows me," Rosado said postgame. "Every inning he talked to me: 'he don't have nothing, he don't throw fast,' and I like that."
"It fires us up, if anything," Brandon Hernandez said postgame. "It's always good when your pitchers are on and they're striking out people. It's good to give a break to the defense sometimes."
Barrie's offense looked very different to start this series than it did in the quarterfinals against Toronto. After back-to-back singles, Francisco Hernandez's sacrifice fly got the scoring started.
On that play, Brandon Hernandez also tagged up from first, and Jaden Brown's throw to second base sailed into center field. That allowed Hernandez to advance to third and later score on a groundout by Tristan Clarke.
Barrie added two unearned runs off Saldaña in the second. The first came when Noel McGarry Doyle's groundball ended with first baseman Niko Kekatos missing the flip to his pitcher covering the bag and Hayden Jaco scoring.
McGarry Doyle scored soon after on a single by Francisco Hernandez. The older Hernandez brother leads the team in RBI (6) so far through the postseason.
In the sixth, Brandon Hernandez doubled into shallow right-center field, driving in Tyler Plumpton, and extending the lead to 5-0. Steven Hospital then took over for Cardinals reliever Caleb Seroski and retired Francisco Hernandez on the only pitch he threw in the outing.
Ramon Henriquez came in for Rosado in the seventh, entering his first matchup against his former team. The 26-year-old retired the first six batters he faced before loading the bases in the ninth.
A double-play ball of the bat of Josh Williams ended the ballgame, and gave Henriquez his first save in the IBL.
Henriquez's departure from Hamilton earlier this season was reportedly sudden and, in some players' minds, unjustified. But in Barrie, he continues to be grateful for the opportunity.
"Matlow helped me because, the first time here, he gave me confidence," he said postgame. "When you give us confidence... it's so good."
KEY STAT
Cardinals batters struck out at least twice in each of the eight innings, eventually totaling 17 strikeouts. The high across the IBL in the regular season was 18 strikeouts by Baycats hitters in Toronto July 30.
UP NEXT
Hamilton hosts game two of the series Sunday at Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium. Frank Garcés (1-0, 2.25 ERA) will start for Barrie against 2025 IBL ERA title winner Owen Boon (2-0, 2.25 ERA).
