LINESCORE
CBL WILD CARD GAME
Barrie 201 000 010— 4 12 0
Guelph 100 100 000— 2 10 2
Garcés (W,1-0), Vasquez (6), Sano (S,1) (8) and Ciprian;
Garcia (L,0-1), Custodio (3), Deans (7), Pineda (9) and Torres.
HRs: Bar — F. Hernandez (1); Gue — Takamatsu (1).
OTHER SCORES
CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Welland 11 London 3
A massive weight came off the collective shoulders of the Barrie Baycats on Tuesday night.
After spending the final weeks of the regular season knowing their season could come down to a single game, the Baycats are moving on to the semifinals following a 4-2 victory over the Guelph Royals in the CBL Wild Card Game at David E. Hastings Stadium.
"It's a lot. I'm not gonna lie," Baycats manager Josh Matlow told Barrie360 postgame. "I don't think I've ever sweat so much in a ballgame."
After a frustrating sub-.500 August and a fifth-place finish that forced Barrie into a do-or-die game on the road, the Baycats came out with the energy Matlow had been looking for and never relinquished the lead.
"It was nice to see us capitalize where we could... it was tough to get runs for sure," he added. "I'm just happy that one's over because that was a lot of stress."
Everyone in the Baycats' starting lineup had a hit, with Francisco Hernandez providing the early spark. He launched a two-run home run in the first inning off Royals starter Edgar Garcia (0-1), giving Barrie a lead it would never surrender.
"I wasn't looking for anything, really," Hernandez said postgame. "I was just thinking let's compete today, it could be our last day on the field. But I guess it wasn't, so we want eight more (wins)."
From there, the Baycats' pitching staff did enough to protect the lead. Starter Frank Garcés (1-0) worked six innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven and walking one. Saul Vasquez and Carlos Sano followed him to close out the win.
"You win with your guys and lose with your guys, and Frank's our guy," Baycats designated hitter Ryan Rijo said.
The eventual game-winning run came when Adam Odd was caught in an intentional rundown between first and second, forcing a wide throw from Royals reliever Claudio Custodio that allowed Wandy Ciprian to score from third.
Matlow says that play, which the Baycats have executed on multiple occasions during the regular season, was the right call in that situation.
"With two strikes, two outs, we had nothing to lose on that one," he said. "They could give us the base or they could try to do something like that, and Claudio threw it away and we got lucky."
Barrie brought a 3-2 lead into the eighth before Rijo came through with a clutch RBI single off reliever Brandon Deans.
"I've faced him long enough that I know the fastball is his best pitch and he's going to go to it when he's in trouble," Rijo said. "He fell behind 2-0 and, you know, I heard someone in the dugout say, 'Get the foot down and bang.' And I said internally, 'Get it going early, try to catch it out front, stay back,' and he threw a ball outside and I took it the other way."
Guelph's runs came on a lead-off home run by designated hitter Garrett Takamatsu and an RBI single by Nathaniel Ochoa in the fourth.
However, Barrie held the Royals to just one runner in scoring position for the final five innings.
The Baycats could've furthered their lead on multiple occasions, having left 13 runners on base, including eight in scoring position. In both the second and fourth innings, Barrie left the bases loaded, then had runners at second and third with nobody out in the seventh and couldn't capitalize.
But Barrie never allowed those missed opportunities to change its approach.
“We fought every single at bat, pitchers on their side, every single pitch, we kept on fighting, we never gave up, we never saw signs of getting comfortable,” Hernandez said. “We just stayed competing the whole game.”
Nonetheless, Matlow was relieved and impressed with the energy and effort his team showed.
"We had no choice but to come and play tonight and we did," he said. "I'm very proud of the boys, and I'm very proud of the the gamesmanship... I know we're coming as [the lowest seed], but I think we're one of the teams to beat."
"After this win, we're fired up," Hernandez said. "We're going to bring the same energy from here on out every single game, win or lose. We all believe in each other, that's what matters."
UP NEXT
Barrie moves on to the CBL Semifinals, where it will face the pennant-winning Hamilton Cardinals.
Game 1 is Friday in Hamilton. Neither team has officially named a starter, although Vasquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is probable for Barrie against ERA title winner Hector Yan.
“I think we match up really well against Hamilton,” Rijo said. “We have in the past, and honestly, we kind of got a little bit of a grudge against them... it's going to be good baseball.”
