By Staff
May 8, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Bandits, didn’t stand a chance against the London Majors Saturday, losing 7-1.
Burlington players celebrate the end of a double-header last season – they didn’t have much to celebrate the first game of this season.
Burlington only managed four hits, and scored one run in the eight inning. Oscar Perez pitched five innings, giving up one hit, no runs and two walks.
For Burlington, Ryan Beckett went four innings, giving up eight hits and three earned runs and four strike outs.
Burlington plays Toronto on May 15th at Christie Pits.
Hamilton Drops Season Opener to Guelph
The Hamilton Cardinals opened the 2016 IBL season with a road game in Guelph against the Royals. Guelph would take advantage of some miscues by Hamilton to score eight unanswered runs in the latter half of the game to win the game 8-1. The Cardinals played the game shorthanded while they await players who are still with their American college teams.
Hamilton opened the scoring in the top of the first when Jason de Vos, who was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball, came in to score when Nate Mastervick reached base on a throwing error charged to the shortstop.
The Cardinals looked to add to their lead in the fourth. Mastervick led off with a single, the first official hit of the season, but was caught stealing before Jon Saporsantos could reach base on a single of his own. Brandon Tamburro would join Saporsantos on the base paths with a walk but a groundout by Tim Black would end the inning.
Guelph got on the board in the sixth inning when they sent ten batters to the plate and got some help from four Cardinals errors. The Royals loaded up the bases thanks to the first error of the inning and then a ground out by Brendan Powers would bring in a run to tie the game at one. Aaron Loder then reached on an error which brought in a pair of runs.
Turner Spears would then double and bring in a fourth run in in the inning. Spears would later score to give the Royals a 5-1 lead. Guelph would go on to score three more runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the game 8-1.
For the Cardinals, Rhys Tapper made his first career start in the IBL and took the loss going five and two-thirds innings, allowing five unearned runs on one hit, walking four and striking out one. Kyle Adoranti went the final two and a third innings allowing three runs, one was unearned, on two hits, walking four and striking out one.
For Guelph, AJ MacKey went seven innings for the win, allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking out eight. Zack Pearson and Jeff MacLeod would each throw an inning on the mound for the Royals, combining to allow a hit, a walk and striking out three.
Kitchener Panthers Spoil Barrie Baycats Home Opener
The Kitchener Panthers defeated the Barrie Baycats 14-8 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 1-0 on the regular-season. Kitchener reliever Shane Courtney recorded the victory, tossing two innings while giving up one earned run on two hits. Panthers centre fielder Tanner Nivins led the way at the plate, going three-for-four with three runs batted in.
Barrie reliever Brad Bissell took the loss, giving up four earned runs on three hits in one and one-third innings pitched. After the loss, Barrie centre fielder Glenn Jackson said he and the rest of the team are just happy to be back on the field.
“It is always good to be back, even though this was like a spring training game for all of us today. “It is just nice to be back with the boys, even though the result was bad. I think we shot ourselves in the foot, but we know how it goes.
“There is fifty-one more games to go until the journey ends, so we figure it is what it is.” Jackson added that while today was a pretty ugly game, he said Barrie starter Matthew St. Kitts impressed.
“Yeah, Chris Archer man. “He is going to be one of those studs man. You think of him, Bissell, Santos (Arias), (Brett) Lawson and (Adam) Rowe, and we are in a really good spot to compete.”
Jackson concluded by saying while the Baycats did shoot themselves in the foot defensively, it does not take away from how impressive Kitchener’s offense was today.
“To me, when you talk about home field advantage, this is when you will need it. When they are swinging it, you want home field advantage.
“Our head-to-head battles this season will be big games.”
The Baycats next regular-season contest is next Saturday against the Guelph Royals from Coates Stadium in Midhurst.
