Baycats Break Through Late to Defeat Barnstormers 7-2

Chatham-Kent, ON – For six innings Saturday night, runs were hard to come by.

Then the Barrie Baycats erupted.

Barrie scored seven runs over the final three innings to pull away from the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers for a 7-2 victory, continuing their strong start to the 2026 season.

The win was powered by another dominant outing from Frank Garcés and a timely offensive explosion that saw the Baycats erase a two-run deficit late in the game.

Chatham-Kent struck first in the third inning when Spencer Morin walked, stole second base, and eventually scored on an RBI single from Evan Morrison to give the Barnstormers a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way through the middle innings as both starting pitchers controlled the game. Garcés worked around traffic throughout the night while Chatham-Kent starter Dakota Parsons kept the Baycats off the scoreboard through six shutout innings.

The Barnstormers doubled their lead in the sixth when Thomas Green scored on an RBI single from Austin Gurney, making it 2-0.

Barrie finally broke through in the seventh.

After putting runners aboard against reliever Catalin Morin, Hayden Jaco delivered the game's biggest swing to that point, lining a two-run single to left field to score Clayton Keyes and Nolan Machibroda, tying the game at 2-2.

The Baycats weren't finished.

Just two batters later, Canice Ejoh chopped an infield single that brought home Jaco and gave Barrie its first lead of the night at 3-2. Another run crossed during the inning as Barrie sent eight batters to the plate and suddenly found itself ahead 4-2.

Barrie added insurance in the eighth.

With Noah Hull and Brendon Daley aboard, Edgar Figueroa ripped a two-run double to left centre, extending the advantage to 6-2. The Baycats added another run later in the inning to complete the seven-run outburst.

While the offense came alive late, Garcés was the story for much of the night. The veteran left-hander improved to 3-0 on the season after tossing seven innings, allowing two runs — only one earned — on 10 hits while striking out five and walking three.

Despite surrendering 10 hits, Garcés repeatedly escaped trouble and prevented Chatham-Kent from putting together a big inning.

Braedan Pakkala handled the final two innings, striking out three while allowing just two hits to secure the victory.

Barrie finished with 10 hits offensively. Figueroa led the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Machibroda, Figueroa, Brandon Hernandez, and Canice Ejoh all recorded multi-hit performances. Jaco provided the spark off the bench, delivering the game-tying two-run single during the decisive seventh inning.

Garcés picked up his third win this season. The Baycats improved to 10-3 to lead the CBL, a half game up on London. Barrie wraps up their series against the Barnstormers Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm.