MAPLE LEAFS SUFFER TOUGH LOSS AGAINST BRANTFORD

Written by: Olivia Byrne

BRANTFORD — Coming off a close 4-2 loss against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, the Toronto Maple Leafs headed southwest to take on the Brantford Red Sox in hopes of better results. Unfortunately, today was not Toronto’s day.

Cam Dimidijan got the start for the Maple Leafs this afternoon, and Brantford gave him trouble almost right away. The Red Sox were pesky in the 1st, taking long at-bats, working the count and stealing whenever possible.

After getting out of the 1st unscathed, Dimidijan had a quick 2nd. In the 3rd, things got off the rails.

After Walker Hultgren worked a six-pitch walk, Dimidijan recorded the first two outs of the inning. Christian Ortega doubled to right field, bringing home Hultgren and putting Brantford on the board first. Then, nearly every play that followed resulted in at least one run scoring. 

Andrew Savage and Tim Holyk both brought home runners after facing only two pitches, then a two-run shot to left field made it a 5-0 game.

When the third out of the inning was recorded, Dimidijan’s day was done and Graham Sim was brought in. Brantford, continuing to be pesky, would score another five runs in the 4th, knocking out Sim before he could even finish the inning. 

Frankie Gulko was up, and after loading the bases in the 5th, was quickly pulled. Reinaldo De Paula toed the rubber, and the Red Sox immediately scored another five runs off of him, making it a 15-0 ballgame.

The two runs for Toronto came in the 7th. Matt Brandt started things off with an easy double to right field. Yolki Pena battled back from 0-2 to work a walk, facing another seven pitches. Drew Howard would also walk on six pitches to load the bases with nobody out. 

Spenser Ross would pop out for the first out of the inning, bringing the top of the order, Marcus Knecht, to the plate.

On the second pitch he saw, Knecht drove the ball into center field, bringing home Brandt and Pena and making it 15-2. 

With De Paula still in to pitch in the bottom of the 7th, Brantford would hit two RBI doubles, bringing the final score to 17-2.

Toronto and Brantford face each other two more times over the next five days. The Red Sox, currently on the outside looking in to the final CBL playoff spot, are 1-2 against the Maple Leafs so far this season. 

UP NEXT: The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to use their home field advantage to win against Brantford on Wednesday, August 19. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.