Leafs Rally Late to Stun Red Sox with 9th-Inning Surge

By Noam Streiffer

The Leafs got back in the win column on Tuesday night with a dramatic ninth-inning comeback against the Brantford Red Sox.

Nathan Currah got the start for the Leafs and looked sharp over his first three innings. However, fatigue got the better of him as he gave up five earned runs in the bottom of the fourth to end his day.

The Red Sox countered with Aidan Armitage, who had a decent outing, pitching four innings and allowing three earned runs while striking out three.

The scoring started in the top of the fourth when the red-hot Marcus Knecht connected for a three-run homer to give the Leafs the lead. It was Knecht's sixth home run of the young season.

Brantford answered back quickly. Matt Torresan ripped a two-run double and then came around to score on a Brody Black three-run homer to give Brantford a two-run lead.

Toronto kept battling in the top of the fifth, scoring two on a Jhon Javier RBI double and a Rando Moreno RBI single to tie things at 5.

Brantford refused to take their foot off the gas, scoring again in the bottom half of the fifth. Lucas Bateman drove in two on a double, then came around to score later in the inning on a rare steal of home to make it an 8–5 ballgame.

The Leafs kept battling back. Jhon Javier came in to score on a Marcus Knecht fielder’s choice to bring the Leafs within two.

With a flair for the dramatic, the Leafs popped off in the top of the ninth, scoring eight times—capitalizing on three different errors from the Brantford Red Sox and some timely hitting from Dennis Dei Baning and Ryan Dos Santos—to take the lead and reach the final score of 14–8.

Credit also goes to the Leafs bullpen. Ayami Sato, Greg Carrington, and Ben Sitarenios locked down the last four innings, allowing no runs to help facilitate the Leafs’ late comeback.

Up Next: The Leafs take on the defending champion Barrie Baycats at Dominico Field on Wednesday, June 11th. First pitch at 7:30 PM.