David Alvarez’s walk-off RBI single gave the Brantford Red Sox a 9-8 victory over the Barrie Baycats on Sunday, June 23, 2024.
Coming off a solid road win against the Barnstormers, the Red Sox were looking to continue their ascension in the league standings against the second-ranked Baycats.
Barrie threatened to score first in the top of the first inning after an error from the Red Sox’s Kieran Bowles. But the Baycats could not capitalize after Red Sox’s starting pitcher, Jeremias Sucre, got Ryan Rijio to ground out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Red Sox opened the scoring. After Gus Wilson beat out a potential double play at first base, Bowles made up for his defensive error by hitting a double, advancing Wilson to third. Nick Burdett would then hit a first-pitch RBI single to shallow centre field, allowing Wilson to score. Red Sox had runners at the corners with one out, only for Jeremie Veilleux and Vaibhav Desai to strike out, ending the opening inning with the home team leading 1-0.
Barrie looked to respond in the top of the second, having the bases loaded with no out. Sucre forced Tyler Plumpton into a double play for the first two outs. After giving up a walk to Kyle Maves, Sucre escaped the jam by striking out Canice Ejoh to retire the side.
In the third inning, the game was delayed due to a downpour. When the game resumed, the Baycats tied the game at one apiece after an RBI single by Royce Ando. Sucre would strike out Rijo and force Nolan Machibroda to ground out to an inning-ending double play.
The Baycats took their first lead of the game in the next inning. After a two-out balk by Sucre, allowing Plumpton to go to second base, Maves hits an RBI double to score Plumpton. Red Sox’s Sucre would then strike out Ejoh to prevent further damage.
Barrie expanded their lead in the sixth inning. Sucre gets the first two outs in order before issuing a walk to Maves and allowing a hit by Ejoh before being relieved for reliever Norman Coleman-Goodwin. In his second pitch of the game, Coleman-Goodwin gives up a single from Noel McGarry-Doyle, allowing Maves to score, giving the Baycats a 3-1 lead.
After Isiah Ramos retired the Baycats in order in the top half of the seventh, the Red Sox offence came outpouring in their half of the inning. First, David Alvarez hit an RBI single, driving home Matt Torresan from second base. Then, with the bases loaded after a Gus Wilson single, Kieran Bowles hit a grounder to third base, only to reach first on an error by the Baycats third baseman, allowing Jaret Lupton to score from third. Nick Burdett would then drive home Alvarez from third on a groundout, and Jeremie Veilleux brought home Brantford’s fourth run of the inning. Vaibhav Desai would end the inning after being struck out swinging by Barrie reliever Braedan Pakkala.
But the Baycats came roaring back in the top of the ninth. Noah Law got rattled from the early onset despite a clean eighth inning. Royce Ando delivered the first blow with an RBI single, followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Ryan Rijo and Nolan Machibroda. Brad McQuinn would give the Baycats the go-ahead runs on a one-out RBI double. Kyle Nash cooled down the Barrie offence by retiring McQuinn and Kyle Maves on consecutive groundouts to end a tough top half of the inning for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox cued the comeback of their own at the bottom of the ninth. Graham Tebbit got the Red Sox closer with a two-out, two RBI single, scoring Bowles and Veilleux. Matt Torresan tied the game for the Red Sox with his fourth hit on an RBI single, driving home Vaibhav Desai from third base.
As part of the new rule mandated by the IBL this season, a base runner starts the extra inning on second base. Kyle Nash and the Red Sox prevented the Baycats from scoring with a scoreless top half of the tenth. The Red Sox would use the new rule to their advantage in the bottom half of the inning. With Jaret Lupton on second base, David Alvarez delivered a base hit (fourth of the game) to center field, allowing Lupton to score on a walk-off for the Red Sox.
Kyle Nash (1-0) got the win for the Red Sox with a near-perfect performance in relief. Starting pitcher Jeremias Sucre pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits and two walks but tallied four strikeouts in a no-decision.
