COTE'S GRAND SLAM LEADS BARRIE TO 14-10 WIN IN LONDON

LONDON – After four hours, the Barrie Baycats out-slug the London Majors 14-10 at Labatt Park. This game saw it all. A grand slam, two balks, five lead changes, and an ejection. The game was also delayed almost 20 minutes because Barrie got caught in traffic. But, the contest was played and it was the Baycats that came out on top. 

Starter Evan Soules had one of the more interesting pitching lines you will see. Soules tossed seven innings but allowed seven earned runs. One of the keys that allowed the right-hander to go that deep was the fact that Barrie only had one half-inning in which they went three up and three down. Those long half-innings gave Soules extra time to rest his arm and save the bullpen.

Evan’s extended start meant that Barrie only had to use two pitchers in this game as they went to Virot Siharath for the last two innings. Working around a walk and two hits, Siharath closed out the game by striking out five batters. That was not only a confidence booster for Virot, it was also big for his team saving some key arms for Saturday’s matchup against Kitchener. 

But on a night like tonight, runs were needed and Josh Cote stepped up with his team down a run with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning. Cote wasted no time belting a grand slam giving the Cats a 10-7 lead, one that they would add on to the next inning thanks to some small ball and a pair of walks.

Other than Cote, there were two other Baycats who contributed heavily to the win. Malik Williams, who was making his 2023 debut, was one of them going three for four with a home run and two batted in. The other was Carson Burns who reached base three times while making some spectacular plays at shortstop. Carson also saw over 30 pitches working a lot of deep counts.

With the win, Barrie improves to 17-9 on the season and sits four games back of Welland for the top spot.

NEXT UP: The Barrie Baycats are back home on Saturday when they welcome the Kitchener Panthers to Vintage Throne Stadium. Note the start time. It will be at 7:05 pm instead of the usual 4:05 that we normally see. Get your tickets here.