LINESCORE
CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Brantford 110 002 000— 4 8 1
Barrie 205 201 03x— 13 14 1
Kozak (L,0-2), Mejia (3), Arias (4), Ramos (6), Kuzemka (7) and Savage;
Benítez (W,2-2), Rosario (6), Večerka (8), Encarnacion (9) and Ciprian, Puyol-Genossar (7).
HRs: Bfd — Ortega (8); Bar — Keyes (3).
OTHER SCORES
Welland 10 Guelph 6
Toronto 9 Kitchener 3
The Barrie Baycats (18-9) kept their foot on the gas and powered their way to a 13-4 win over the Brantford Red Sox (9-17) on Thursday at Athletic Kulture Stadium.
After Barrie jolted out in front with a five-run third inning, Clayton Keyes put an exclamation mark on the team's big performance with a towering two-run home run in the eighth. He finished with three RBI after a run-scoring single in the sixth off Jordis Ramos.
The blast, his third of the season, appeared to easily clear the trees and shrubbery beyond the left field fence, likely landing somewhere on or beyond nearby Highway 26.
With Barrie adding three runs in the eighth inning, manager Josh Matlow says they had learned not to take the Red Sox lightly, especially after blowing a three-run lead in their previous matchup at home against Brantford.
"The message was just to keep it going," he told Barrie360 postgame. "I don't want to fall asleep when we're up and and I think we did that last time Brantford was here and they actually beat us, so we made sure that we didn't do that."
Red Sox starter Kade Kozak (0-2) was tagged for five runs (four earned) in the losing effort, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out one over 2.2 innings.
Brendon Daley, making his first start of the season, drove in two with a double in the Baycats' big third inning, in which the Baycats sent nine men to the plate and gained a lead they wouldn't give up.
Like Keyes, Nolan Machibroda also had three RBI. He was among three Barrie players to pick up three hits.
Brantford briefly held a one-run lead after Christian Ortega homered in the first inning. However, it was the only earned run allowed by Baycats starter Juan Benítez (2-2), who gave up four hits, struck out three, and walked one over five innings en route to his 30th-career CBL win.
Matlow said he was most impressed with the energy the team brought to the game, much of it due in part to the arrival of two new pitchers, Ronny Rosario and Boris Večerka.
"[They] came coming in and brought a little bit of spunk and I think everyone rallied behind it," Matlow said postgame. "They were excited to see them pitch, they were excited to pitch, and I think they did pretty well."
Rosario went two innings and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over two innings, although Matlow said he was "clearly nervous." The Dominican also struck out three in what was his first pro game.
Meanwhile, Večerka had a quick inning of work, which included a double hit by Walker Hultgren, and his first CBL strikeout.
The win keeps Barrie in a tie atop the CBL standings with two games in hand.
UP NEXT
The Baycats are in London on Friday with Barrie's Frank Garcés (4-1, 2.88 ERA) set to start against Victor Payano (6-1, 3.09) in a duel of lefties.
Brantford hosts the Majors on Saturday.
