Baycats Blast Nine Home Runs in 18-7 Rout of Panthers

Kitchener, ON – The Barrie Baycats put on one of the most explosive offensive displays of the season Sunday afternoon, clubbing nine home runs in an 18-7 victory over the Kitchener Panthers.

The Baycats wasted no time getting started. Francisco Hernandez launched a two-run home run in the opening inning to give Barrie a 2-0 lead. Barrie continued to pile on in the second when Clayton Keyes connected for a two-run homer of his own, extending the advantage to 4-0.

The third inning turned the game into a rout. Noah Hull crushed a three-run home run to right field before Nolan Machibroda went back-to-back with a solo shot, pushing the Baycats' lead to 8-0.

Kitchener got on the board in the bottom half when Rafael Gross hit a solo home run, but Barrie answered immediately. Brandon Hernandez launched a solo homer in the fourth before Hull added an RBI single later in the inning to make it 10-1.

The Panthers showed some life in the fifth as Josh Williams and Petey Kiefer both hit solo home runs, trimming the deficit to 10-3.

Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly erased in the sixth. Hull struck again, belting his second home run of the afternoon, a three-run blast that scored Francisco Hernandez and Edgar Figueroa and stretched the lead to 13-3.

Canice Ejoh added another solo homer in the seventh before Kristyan Puyol-Genossar brought home Ryan Rijo with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Barrie put the finishing touches on the afternoon in the ninth. Carson Barker launched a three-run home run to right field, the Baycats' eighth long ball of the game, increasing the lead to 18-4.

Kitchener scored three times over the final two innings, including a sacrifice fly from Yosuke Fujie in the ninth, but the outcome was long decided.

Hull led the offensive explosion, finishing 3-for-6 with seven RBIs and two home runs. Machibroda added three hits, including a homer, while Francisco Hernandez, Keyes, Brandon Hernandez, Ejoh and Barker all went deep.

Saul Vasquez earned the victory for Barrie, while Samuel Quintana took the loss for Kitchener.

The Baycats return home Thursday to face Brantford at 7:38 pm. Get your tickets here.