Jackfish bats power them to a 7-4 victory over the Maple Leafs

Written by: Noam Streiffer

The Maple Leafs were unable to hold on Wednesday night, falling 7-4 to the Welland Jackfish. Despite battling back from a two-run deficit midway through the game, Toronto couldn't contain the Jackfish offense as Welland scored four runs over the final three innings.

Nick Veselinovic got the start for the Leafs and turned in a solid outing. The right-hander settled in and held the Jackfish to one run through five innings. His night ended after a string of hard contact forced Rob Butler to turn to the bullpen. 

The Leafs opened the scoring in the first inning when Brando Leroux singled and later came around to score on a JJ Dutton RBI single. Toronto carried that 1-0 lead into the fourth before Mann's home run evened the score.

Welland grabbed control in the sixth inning. Ethan Mann started the rally with a single before James Smibert drove him home with an RBI knock. Justin Gideon followed with an RBI triple to right field, extending the Jackfish lead to 3-1.

The Leafs responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Yordan Manduley and Matt Brandt singled to put two runners aboard. Brando Leroux then stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of the night for Toronto, crushing a three-run homer to left field to erase the deficit and give Toronto a 4-3 lead.

Unfortunately for Toronto, the tie would not last long. Jonah Weisner doubled to begin the seventh inning and later scored on a Gianfranco Morello single to put Welland back in front. The Jackfish continued to apply pressure on the bases and added two more runs in the eighth inning before tacking on another insurance run in the ninth.

Toronto's pitching staff battled throughout the evening, but Welland's aggressive baserunning proved to be a major factor. The Jackfish stole six bases and consistently put runners in scoring position, finishing with 11 hits and seven runs.

The Leafs had opportunities to swing momentum back in their favour but were unable to capitalize, leaving 15 runners on base in the loss.

Up Next: The Leafs head on the road as they look to bounce back against the London Majors on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.