Leafs’ Struggles Continue as Jackfish Dominate in Offensive Onslaught

By Noam Streiffer

The Toronto Maple Leafs' recent struggles continued Friday night as they suffered a lopsided 15-5 defeat at the hands of the league-leading Welland Jackfish. With the loss, Toronto now falls to sixth place in the standings, slipping behind the Hamilton Cardinals.

Josh Berenbaum took the mound for the Leafs but endured a rough outing, lasting just 3.2 innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks, taking the loss and pushing his season ERA to 4.90.

For Welland, Halen Knoll got the start and, despite allowing four runs on seven hits, pitched five innings to earn the win.

The Jackfish opened the scoring early, with Pier-Olivier Boucher ripping a two-run double in the top of the first. Brendan Luther added to the lead in the third with a two-run single, putting Welland ahead 4-0.

Toronto responded in the bottom of the third. Jhon Javier kicked things off with an RBI single, and Justin Marra followed with a game-tying home run to right-center field, knotting the score at four apiece.

However, Welland answered back quickly with a run in the fourth but the nail in the coffin came in the fifth and sixth innings. The Jackfish tallied 10 runs on just three hits, along with a string of tough defensive errors by the Leafs, surging ahead 15-4.

The Leafs added one final run in the eighth inning on a Dennis Dei Baning RBI double. Dei Baning had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4 and staying calm and confident in the batter’s box throughout the game.

Up Next: The Leafs will look to bounce back on Sunday, July 13th, when they host the London Majors at Christie Pits. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.