BAYCATS STUN JACKFISH IN 8-7 WALK OFF WIN IN COMEBACK FASHION

Barrie, ON – If that game doesn’t get you pumped up, I don’t know what will—if you’re a Baycats fan and a fan of the Intercounty Baseball League. Down 7–1 at one point, Barrie stormed back to tie it and then win it in ten innings, 8–7 over the Welland Jackfish. Noah Hull was the hero, walking it off in the tenth to score Tristan Clarke and bring the Baycats back to .500 with their fourth consecutive win.

Frank Garcés got the start and was clean through the first three innings, but Welland got to him in the fourth. A Jake Sanford triple brought in Matteo Porcellato, then Brandon Hupe drove in Sanford with a sacrifice fly, making it 2–0 Welland. Porcellato added two more RBIs the next inning with a single. It was quickly 5–0 for the visitors.

The Jackfish scored a run in both the sixth and seventh, increasing their total to seven. Barrie was down 7–1 at the stretch. Garcés pitched six innings, allowing six runs on nine hits while punching out eight. Ramón Henríquez came in to work the seventh and eighth. Henríquez limited the damage in the seventh, getting Robert Mullen to pop up and inducing a double play off the bat of Sanford to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation—a major turning point.

Ben Abram was great for the Jackfish in his six innings. The tall righty struck out five, holding the Baycats to just one run—a Nolan Machibroda RBI double in the first—and was in line for the win. That all started to change in the bottom of the seventh.

Halen Knoll came in for Abram in the seventh, and with two outs, the Edmonton, Alberta native left one in a bad spot to a guy you just can’t miss. Ryan Rijo smoked the first pitch he saw from Knoll over the right-field fence—a three-run shot to make it 7–4, scoring Brandon Hernandez and Malik Williams ahead of him.

In the very next inning, Welland’s second reliever of the game, Scott Gillespie, made the same mistake—leaving one up for Adam Odd, who hammered it over the wall, shrinking the Fish lead to 7–5. Welland manager Brian Essery called for his closer, and with five outs to get, in came Deivy Mendez.

Mendez entered with Baycats catcher Andrew Johnston on first and gave up a double to Francisco Hernandez, putting the tying runs in scoring position. That set the stage for Brandon Hernandez. After Welland signed Tyson Gomm’s brother Austin just days earlier, the Hernandez brothers were out to prove they're the best sibling duo in the IBL. Brandon ripped a 1–2 offering from Mendez into centre field, scoring two, igniting the crowd, and tying the game.

In the tenth, the Baycats took advantage of the ghost runner at second—Tristan Clarke—as Noah Hull hit a walk-off single to right field, cueing the celebration.

Carlos Sano earned the win in relief—his second—throwing two scoreless innings. The loss went to Mendez, just his second in his four year IBL career.

Final Score: Baycats 8, Jackfish 7 (10 innings)

NEXT UP: The Baycats begin a four-game road trip next weekend with three straight in Chatham-Kent. It all starts on Friday, June 20th at 7:35 p.m. Catch all the action on YouTube.