Josh Laukkanen pitched seven strong innings, but the Brantford Red Sox could not hold on as the Guelph Royals came from behind late for a 3-2 win on Friday, June 14, 2024.
After back-to-back wins last week against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers and the Kitchener Panthers, the Red Sox wanted to continue their winning streak against the Guelph Royals.
The Royals scored at the top of the first, courtesy of a Marc Nellis RBI double, driving Ryosuke Okashi home from second base.
Brantford starting pitcher Josh Laukkanen would then manage to strike out Arthur Kowara for the final out to prevent further damage.
The Red Sox would respond with a run in their bottom half of the inning. With two runners in scoring position with one out, Nick Burdett would hit an infield grounder to a fielder’s choice, allowing Ethan Paulos (who got on base by error from Royals’ Ohashi) to score from third base.
Red Sox’s Laukkanen and Royals starter Kyle Thomas got scoreless through the next four innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox broke the deadlock. After Paulos advanced to third on a one-out fielder’s choice by Kieran Bowles, Burdett recorded his only RBI of the game with a single, allowing Paulos for his second run and giving the home side’s first lead.
But the Royals responded in the top of the seventh. After Evan Ashe hit a double, leading to Mike Cecchetto advancing to third with one out, Jeff McLeod tied the game with a single, driving home Cecchetto.
Red Sox’s Laukkanen would then have Brando Leroux fly out, and Ohashi struck out swinging to minimize the further Royal threat.
Laukkanen would be relieved by Isiah Ramos to start the eighth. The native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, kept the Red Sox in the contest with seven quality innings, striking out six and allowing two earned runs on six hits while throwing 100 pitches.
Ramos allowed a J.D. Williams single but made back-to-back strikeouts before Kowara stepped to the plate. Williams stole second but advanced to third on an error from Red Sox catcher Jeremie Veilleux.
This proved costly for the Red Sox as Williams would score the eventual-winning run from third a few pitches later as Veilleux made his second error.
The Red Sox had an opportunity to even the score in their half of the inning but could not cash in Paulos for the third time.
Following a scoreless top of the ninth, the Red Sox offence went down in secession with three strikeouts by Royals reliever Yuki Narita to end the game.
The Red Sox dropped to 3-8 on the season, with Ramos taking the loss.
