TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 17, BARRIE BAYCATS 13
By Michael Radoslav
The Toronto Maple Leafs survived a war of offensive attrition on Sunday to secure their first three-game win streak of the season.
Toronto claimed a 17–13 win over the Barrie Baycats, and with it fourth place in the Intercounty Baseball League standings.
The Leafs have won 11 of their past 15 games. The Leafs past two wins both came on the road—over the Kitchener Panthers on Thursday, 7–5, and Guelph Royals on Saturday, 6–3.
On this day, Toronto recorded 17 runs on 17 hits with three errors, while Barrie tallied 13 runs on 11 hits.
Barrie opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, with Jon Waltenbury connecting on his first of two three-run homeruns. Barrie further added to the lead in the second against Leafs starter Brandon Horgan, after a wild pitch and an error brought home Kevin Atkinson for a 4–0 lead.
The teams would take turns piling on the runs, as Toronto responded with the five runs to follow. In the home half of the second inning, with two runners aboard, Leafs Raul Borjas hit a two-run homerun to make the score 4–2 for Barrie.
In the third, Jordan Castaldo and Dan Marra each tallied homeruns (two and one run respectively) off Barrie starter Nick Fogarty. The Leafs took a 5–4 lead heading to the fourth inning.
While the bats calmed down for a couple of innings, they awoke with a fury later on. The top of the sixth Barrie reclaimed the lead, pouring in another three runs. Waltenbury’s second three-run blast occurred in the seventh.
The Leafs responded with a seven run explosion to regain their lead in the seventh. After Barrie’s relief pitcher Jamir Arneson walked in a run, Toronto’s Dan Marra hit a bases clearing double to bring the
game within one run, and Will Richards hit a three-run homerun to give the Leafs a 12–10 lead.
Barrie reclaimed the lead in the eighth, as Jordan Lundberg continued the trend of three run homeruns, this time off Toronto relief pitcher Drew Taylor.
Down 13–12 late in the game, Toronto put together another strong performance in the eighth, driving in five runs against Barrie’s JD Moore.
After Moore hit three batters by pitches, Borjas, Jeremy Walker, and Glenn Jackson all drove in runs on RBI singles.
With the win Toronto (14–13) moves a half game behind Barrie (15–13) in the standings.
Toronto’s next game is at home against the Guelph Royals on Wednesday, July 11 at Dominico Field at Christie Pits at 7:30 p.m.