LINESCORE
CBL SEMIFINALS - GAME 3
Barrie 003 062 220— 13 16 1
Hamilton 100 010 004— 6 12 3
Garcés (W,2-0), Moreta (7), Grieveson (8), Sano (9) and Ciprian, Puyol-Genossar (6);
Boon (L,0-1), Boatto (5), Boulliere-Howard (5), Warkentin (6), Garcia (8), Cory (9) and Magill.
HRs: Bar — None; Ham — None.
OTHER SCORES
Welland 6 London 5
Noel McGarry Doyle wore a replica army helmet into Bernie Arbour Stadium on Sunday afternoon, prepared for battle.
By the time the Barrie Baycats left fielder saluted his teammates in the fifth inning, his squad was well on their way to victory.
That was when he drove in the second run in a six-run fifth inning to help Barrie to a 13-6 win over the Hamilton Cardinals, bringing its CBL Semifinals deficit to 2-1.
McGarry Doyle went 3-for-5 with two RBI and said the helmet was to "show the guys that we're out here just using hard heads."
Whatever the message, his teammates got it. After Hamilton got on the board first with a first-inning RBI single by Tyler Duncan, Barrie answered with a three-run third inning before racking up six in the fifth.
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Barrie's win ended Hamilton's eight-game win streak that included six games to end the regular season.
"To knock them down and remind them kind of who Barrie is and what we're capable of was extremely important," Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame.
The Baycats totaled 16 hits, including five when sending 11 men to the plate in a big fifth inning.
Cardinals starter Owen Boon (1-0) failed to record an out in the inning and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out one.
Barrie’s offensive outburst resembled Hamilton's Game 2 approach, stringing together single after single to produce runs before ultimately surpassing the Cardinals' output.
"It just takes us simplifying the game down, just pitch by pitch, inning by inning, trying to go back to what the game's really about: see ball, hit ball," McGarry Doyle said about the offensive approach.
Wandy Ciprian also had three hits, including a double and two RBI, while Brandon Hernandez added a double, single and four RBI.
"When you're trusting the next guy up and not playing selfishly, that's what works best," Hernandez said.
The early lead benefitted Baycats starter Frank Garcés (2-0), who finished six innings having allowed just two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out three.
"We never really give him run support, and today we couldn't have given him more," Matlow said. "We haven't been fair to him all year. Finally we get a good lead, he only goes 90 or so pitches — he was ready to go 140 if need be. It was almost a must-win."
Meanwhile, Hamilton's offence sent nine men to the plate at its last breath, all off Baycats closer Carlos Sano.
After driving two of his three RBI in the ninth, Duncan is now 7-for-12 in the series with a double, a triple and five RBI.
Carlos Dominguez also logged multiple hits and two RBI for the Cardinals.
While many Baycats players considered Game 3 a must win, McGarry Doyle understands that while they did win this battle, the war isn't over.
"It allows some of us to like take a nice little sigh of relief," he said. "We've just got to come back on Wednesday and get it going again."
UP NEXT
In a rematch of Game 1, Game 4 in Springwater will feature Juan Benítez (0-1, 7.71 ERA) starting for Barrie against Hector Yan (1-0, 1.80) starting for Hamilton.
"It doesn't matter who's on the mound, if we're gonna put the ball in play and get guys over, we're gonna win more ballgames than we're gonna lose," Matlow added.
