Leafs Bounce Back with 9–5 Win Over Panthers

By Noam Streiffer

The Leafs got back in the win column on Sunday night with a decisive 9-5 victory against the Kitchener Panthers. In the midst of a tough stretch of games, the Leafs were able to get it done on Sunday and stay within the top five of the IBL standings.

Luis Florentino got the start for the Leafs and he pitched well, allowing just two runs on seven hits over 5 innings while striking out four Panthers.

On the other side for Kitchener, it was Owen MacNeil who had a very strong outing — pitching 6 innings, allowing two runs, and recording eleven strikeouts against a short-staffed Maple Leafs lineup.

Kitchener got on the board first with a Yosuke Fujie RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd. Toronto answered back with a two-run single of their own in the top of the 4th from Ben Sitarenios.

Kitchener responded right away in the bottom of the 4th — Yunior Ibarra came in to score on a wild pitch, tying the game. They struck again in the bottom of the 5th on a single from Ibarra to take a one-run lead.

Once the starters were pulled, Toronto's bats came alive. In the top of the 7th, Dennis Dei Baning crushed a three-run homer, followed by an RBI fielder's choice from Leafs legend Damon Topolie to give Toronto a 6-3 lead.

Kitchener answered back with an RBI single and another run scoring on a wild pitch, but it wasn’t enough — that would be all the offense they could muster on the day.

Toronto tacked on three more runs in the 8th and 9th thanks to RBIs from Dei Baning, Ryan Dos Santos, and Jhon Javier to reach the final score of 9-5.

Former big leaguer Dustin Richardson came in to close and shut the door, pitching a clean inning aside from a walk to confirm the 9-5 win for the Leafs.

Up next: The Leafs head back home to take on the first-place Welland Jackfish on Friday, July 11th. First pitch at 7:30 PM.