Baycats Come Up Just Short in 3–2 Loss to Jackfish

Barrie, ON – A late rally by the Barrie Baycats wasn’t enough on Wednesday night, as they fell 3–2 to the Welland Jackfish.

Baycats starter Frank Garces was strong on the mound, striking out 11 and allowing just one earned run over seven innings, but a pair of timely hits in the second and ninth innings from the Jackfish was the difference.

Welland’s offence was led by Gio Morello, who went 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of stolen bases. The Jackfish were aggressive on the basepaths all night, swiping seven bags in total to keep constant pressure on Baycats pitching.

Barrie opened the scoring in the first inning on a Nolan Machibroda RBI single, but Welland quickly responded with runs in the second and fifth. A key two-out RBI from Mateo Porcellato tied the game, and Brendan Luther drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth.

Trailing 3–1 entering the ninth, Barrie made things interesting. After a leadoff walk from Tristan Clarke, he later scored on a two-out single by Francisco Hernandez, but closer Deivy Mendez shut the door to earn the save after Porcellato made a great diving catch in right field to take away a potential game-tying hit from Noah Hull.

Welland starter Teodoro Ortega earned the win with a dominant performance, striking out 12 batters over seven innings of one-run ball.

FINAL SCORE: Jackfish 3, Baycats 2.

NEXT UP: The Baycats head to Welland on Saturday for a rematch against the Jackfish. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.