Welland Stays Perfect, Slips Past Baycats 4-3

Barrie, ON – Close game.

We’ve come to expect nothing less when the Barrie Baycats and Welland Jackfish face off. Thursday’s 4-3 Welland win improved their record to 7-0, marking the best start in franchise history. For the Baycats, it was another game that featured plenty of positives, but a lack of timely hitting and a four-run sixth inning by the visitors proved to be the story of game number eight for Barrie.

Welland starter Teodoro Ortega and Barrie starter Cesar Rosado both went five and two-thirds innings and allowed four hits apiece. The difference? Only two of Ortega’s four hits resulted in runs—both solo home runs. Welland, meanwhile, capitalized on two run-scoring hits to plate three runs and added another on a walk. Rosado didn’t pitch poorly; in fact, the Jackfish had just one hit heading into the sixth.

Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame that the sixth inning was going to be Rosado’s last regardless of the outcome, as the right-hander was dealing with a blister. There were a few moments in the inning where you could argue a call didn’t go Barrie’s way, but with or without them, “the game could have gone either way.”

Willy Garcia’s fifth-inning home run—his first in the Intercounty Baseball League—may not have landed yet. It was an absolute missile on a 1-2 pitch from Ortega that’s probably sitting in the ditch across Highway 26. The second of the Baycats' two homers came from Noel McGarry-Doyle, an opposite-field shot and his first of the season.

Christian Lazar worked two and a third solid innings out of the bullpen, striking out five. Ethan Morris pitched a clean ninth inning, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. Ortega earned his second win of the season, Rosado took the loss, and Deivy Mendez recorded the save.

Final Score: Welland 4, Barrie 3.

NEXT UP: The Baycats travel to London tomorrow night to face the Majors at Labatt Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.