LINESCORE
CBL SEMIFINALS - GAME 4
Hamilton 100 040 020— 7 8 2
Barrie 000 000 101— 2 5 2
Yan (W,2-0), Garcia (6), Warkentin (7), Seroski (9), Adames (9) and Magill;
Benítez (L,0-2), Moreta (6), Pakkala (8) and Ciprian, Puyol-Genossar (8).
HRs: Ham — B. Nicoll (1), Reyes (1); Bar — Ejoh (1).
OTHER SCORES
Welland 13 London 1 (series tied 2-2)
"I wish we had the answer."
It was a blunt assessment from Barrie Baycats manager Josh Matlow, who has been searching for consistency at the plate all season long.
With their CBL championship hopes now one loss from ending, the team is still looking.
Barrie managed just five hits in a 7-2 loss to the Hamilton Cardinals in Game 4 of the CBL Semifinals on Thursday, falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
One game after producing 13 runs on 16 hits to climb back into the series, the Baycats again struggled to turn baserunners into runs, leaving 11 runners on base and totaling just five hits.
"We worked some walks, we got guys on and just couldn't get the hit," Matlow told Barrie360 postgame. "It's frustrating."
Despite being no-hit by Cardinals ace Hector Yan (2-0) through the first four innings, Barrie had six baserunners in that span but stranded all of them. The Baycats left another runner on base in the fifth after finally recording their first hit of the game.
Yan, who led the CBL with 112 strikeouts in the regular season, racked up nine punchouts over five shutout innings. He allowed just one hit despite walking six, his highest total of the year.
Matlow said the Baycats begin trying to create offence with one swing rather than continuing to work counts and chain together the small plays that make up their ideal approach.
"We can't play our game when we're down and guys take it upon themselves to try and hit home runs with nobody on and it gets frustrating where all we need is really a single and get to the next guy," he explained.
That approach may have come from the Baycats having trailed for the entire game. Cardinals shortstop Brandon Nicoll led the game off with a home run before a four-run fifth inning that included RBI singles from Darlin Germán and Jaden Brown before Dario Borrero drove in two more.
Baycats starter Juan Benítez (0-2) allowed five earned runs on six hits and four walks over five innings while striking out four.
Barrie didn't get on the board until the seventh when a throwing error by Nicoll brought in Noel McGarry Doyle from second on what could've been an inning-ended groundout. Barrie stranded two runners while down by four in that inning, leaving the tying run on deck.
Reyny Reyes later extended Hamilton's lead to six in the eighth with a two-run home run, while Canice Ejoh homered for Barrie an inning later.
The ninth inning, which also included a single from Brandon Hernandez, was the only inning Barrie had multiple hits.
The Baycats struck out 14 times as a team despite working nine walks.
"It was just a flat game," Matlow said. "The crowd couldn't get into it, and we didn't get into it, and it's just frustrating."
Thursday's loss was another example of the inconsistency that has defined Barrie's season, especially at home.
Including the playoffs, the Baycats have won just two of its last 10 games at home, averaging just seven hits and being outscored 62-37 in that stretch. The team's last home game with at least 10 hits was Aug. 15, a 12-9 loss to London.
In contrast, Barrie is 6-4 in its last 10 road games, including the playoffs. In those games, the Baycats have outscored opponents 76-55.
Matlow said that unpredictability has been one of the team's biggest issues all season.
"Tomorrow we could show up and put up a 10 spot. Will we do the same on Saturday?" Matlow said. "We've got to put together three games in a row, and we've got to be good in all three of them."
Barrie now must win the next three games to keep its season alive. The last team to come back from down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series to force Game 7, let alone win the series, in the former Intercounty Baseball League was the Brantford Red Sox, who rallied from a 3-0 series deficit against the Baycats to win the league title in 2013.
UP NEXT
Barrie's Saul Vasquez (0-1, 4.15 ERA) and Hamilton's Luis Ramirez (1-0, 1.29) will match up on the mound again on Friday night in Game 5.
It could be a series-clinching game for the Cardinals, who haven't played in the league's final series since a five-game loss to Toronto in 2002.
However, the Baycats, who have been to the Finals each of the last three years, continue to bank on their playoff pedigree to extend the series further.
"We plan on playing three more, and we want to win this," Matlow concluded.
