Walks and hit batters by the Barrie Baycats' (13-10) relief pitching cost the team what could've been a seventh straight win, and seemingly gave the Guelph Royals (11-13) a 7-3 win Sunday in Midhurst.
Baycats relievers allowed seven walks and hit two batters in a span of two innings which led to five Royals runs, all without a hit in that span.
Meanwhile, Barrie's potent offensive attack was seemingly settled down by Guelph's two best available arms, with only eight hits. The team had had at least 14 hits in each of the last six games.
"Six out of seven ain't bad, let's be honest," Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame. "But we might have ran out of gas, especially after yesterday's hot day."
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
Cesar Rosado got the start for Barrie, with him only set to go a couple innings as an “opener” before Ethan Morris, but Rosado kept his pitch count relatively low and got through five innings.
The Baycats gave him a lead to work with, as Brandon Hernandez came in on a wild pitch by Guelph starter Edgar Garcia in the fourth after reaching with a double.
Rosado started the sixth, but got into trouble right away. He hit Andy Leader with a pitch before allowing a moonshot home run by Garrett Takamatsu, his fourth of the season.
The Dominican right-hander was then pulled in favour of lefty Ethan Morris, but he couldn't control any of his pitches.
He managed to record one out, but every other pitch was spiked or far outside. He hit his second batter, Anderson Fenwick, prompting manager Josh Matlow to pull him after just six pitches.
Ramon Henriquez closed the frame by forcing former Baycat Carson Burns to ground into a double play.
However, Barrie tied it in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff home run by Noel McGarry-Doyle off the former major leaguer Garcia. Since returning from the Frontier League he is 16-for-29 with four homers.
The seventh inning is where it all started to unravel for Henriquez. He started the inning by hitting two batters, then two fielders choices, and back-to-back bases-loaded walks before he was pulled in favour of Chris Lazar.
Lazar entered the 4-2 game and didn't have much more success. He allowed a two-out bases-loaded walk before getting the third out.
In the eighth, he walked three-straight batters with one out, before he balked in a run and Leader knocked in another on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.
In innings 5-8, Baycats pitching allowed just one hit—Takamatsu's homer—but allowed seven runs.
"Way too many walks," Matlow said postgame. "I don't know if we were running out of gas or what it was, but that's just too many walks...we were basically just handing it to them."
Nolan Machibroda extended his hit streak to 14 games in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single, but the damage had already been done.
Royals starter Edgar Garcia finished with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings, getting his first IBL win. Brandon Deans picked up his second save of the season after entering the game with his team up by three in the seventh.
Ramon Henriquez was charged with his fourth loss of the season, his second since joining the Baycats. In both losses with Barrie, he's allowed 0 hits.
"We just don't know which Ramon we're going to get," Matlow said "Unfortunately we didn't get the good one tonight."
JUNIORS
Baycats catcher Joshren Magnaye made his first IBL start after two previous appearances over the past two weeks. He got his first IBL hit in the seventh inning off Deans.
"He works hard back there and I think that's why he's here," Matlow said.
Meanwhile, Josh Tibbits made his season debut, getting his first IBL plate appearance since 2023. He'd been hitting .406 with the affiliate team this year in 11 games.
Alex Wickett continued his hit streak, extending it to seven games with two hits, including a double.
UP NEXT
Barrie faces Brantford on the road for the first time this season Friday. Starters TBA.
Guelph hosts Chatham-Kent at home Tuesday.
