Maple Leafs walk off Red Sox

By Rob Vona

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Brantford Red Sox in walk off fashion on Sunday afternoon at Dominico Field, winning by a score of 4-3.

It was Angel Castro who took the mound for the Maple Leafs and put on yet another strong performance to give his team a chance to win. 

Castro struck out the side in the first inning, setting the tone early en route to a seven inning performance that saw him punch out a whopping 11 batters, while surrendering three runs - only one earned - and allowing seven hits. 

“When you get ahead of guys, that’s going to allow your teammates to do their job behind you,” said Castro following the game.

The first six innings of the game were a classic pitchers duel as Red Sox starter Gregor Farquharson kept the Maple Leafs in check, allowing just three hits over six strong innings. 

Brantford broke the ice in the fifth inning, scoring two runs on a single from first baseman Nick Burdett after two runners reached via a fielding error. 

The visitors struck again in the sixth inning, manufacturing a run on a fielder’s choice to give themselves a 3-0 heading into the home stretch of the game. 

Aidan Armitage entered the game in relief for Brantford in the seventh inning and surrendered a booming double to right-fielder Marcus Knecht that scored third baseman Ryan Dos Santos, getting the Maple Leafs on the board as they now trailed 3-1. 

Julian Valdez came in the game in the eighth inning for Toronto and got into a jam, finding himself in a bases loaded, no out situation. 

Valdez zoned in and struck out the next three batters he faced, sparking some life in the trailing Maple Leafs who had only six outs to work with. 

The Red Sox brought in Josh Laukkanen to slam the door in the final two innings, after working swiftly through the eighth inning, the two teams headed to the ninth.

Adam Marra made an appearance with his team down by two runs and got through the ninth inning unscathed. 

The ninth inning saw catcher Justin Marra and Knecht both reach base on a couple of fielding errors from the Red Sox which brought up centre-fielder Connor Lewis.

“We all knew he had it inside of him, we all know he has that power,” said Castro on Lewis. 

With a 1-2 count, Lewis turned on a fastball and hooked it over the left-field fence, sending the Maple Leafs faithful into a frenzy as Toronto came out victorious, clinching a playoff berth.

“Everyone is playing together, learning to fight for one another. Everyone understands they have a role to play if this team is going to have success,” said Castro. “You can feel it with the playoffs coming, this team is clearly heading in the right direction.”

Toronto will take on the Kitchener Panthers on Wednesday at Jack Couch Park at 7:30 p.m.