Maple Leafs Come Up Short in 8-6 Loss to Baycats

By Noam Streiffer

The Toronto Maple Leafs came up just short on Friday night, losing 8-6 to the Barrie Baycats. With the loss, the Leafs fall below .500 once again in what has been a roller-coaster season thus far.

Toronto was short-handed, with just nine position players available on the active roster and missing key contributors such as Marcus Knecht, Jordan Castaldo, and Spenser Ross.

Matt Brown got the start for the Leafs and struggled through four innings of work, allowing four runs on nine hits en route to the loss.

On the other side, Juan Benitez started for Barrie and pitched six strong innings, allowing just one run before fatigue and control issues caught up to him. He surrendered five runs in the top of the seventh.

The Baycats got to Brown early, scoring in the top of the first off a single and an error to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Toronto answered back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on a double play off the bat of Jhon Javier to cut the deficit in half.

Barrie kept their foot on the gas, scoring again in the third and fourth innings on hits from Willy Garcia and Clayton Keyes to extend their lead to 4-1.

Ayami Sato came on to pitch in the top of the sixth and gave up an RBI single. Some tough hops and shaky defense followed, putting two runners on with former MLB outfielder Willy Garcia stepping to the plate.

Garcia didn’t miss his chance, crushing a deep shot to center field for a three-run homer. The blast broke the game open and gave the Baycats a commanding 8-1 lead.

Despite giving up four runs, Leafs coach Brian Sewell had positive things to say about Sato: “There's no quit… She was one pitch away from being out of it…so it's a little tough. Garcia's a really good hitter.”

Toronto mounted a last stand in the bottom of the seventh, scoring five runs on a three-run double from Ryan Dos Santos and a pair of RBI singles from Dan Marra and Dennis Dei Baning to bring the final score to 8-6.

Despite the tough loss, Sewell remained optimistic about his short-staffed squad: “We’ve got a bench full of really good ballplayers, so it's never that hard to put together a good lineup.”

Next up: A quick turnaround for the Leafs, who stay home to welcome the Kitchener Panthers on Sunday, July 5. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM.