Series Deadlocked: Leafs and Baycats Set for Decisive Game 5

By Noam Streiffer

The Leafs dropped Game 4 at home in a 6-3 pitchers’ duel. With this loss, the series is now even at 2-2, as Barrie has forced a winner-take-all Game 5 to be played in Barrie on Wednesday afternoon.

At this point, each team has one home win and one road win, and given the Leafs’ home/road record during the regular season, it’s really anyone’s guess who the favorite is heading into this crucial Game 5.

Wilgenis Alvarado got the start for the Leafs and looked sharp through four innings, allowing just one run. But Barrie was able to get to him in the 5th and 6th for four additional runs.

Unfortunately for Toronto, Alvarado was outdueled by Frank Garces. Garces threw eight innings, allowing three runs and striking out 13 Leafs. For the second time in this series, Garces pushed his pitch count up over 120.

The scoring started in the top of the 3rd when Nolan Machibroda was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in the first run of the ballgame.

The Leafs responded in the bottom of the 4th when Justin Marra launched his third home run of the series. Following an error that cost the Leafs a Game 1 victory, Marra entered the rest of the series with a chip on his shoulder. He spoke about that pregame:

“Any time you can help your team it feels good. That said, any time you hurt the team it really bothers you … the timing of the error was tough for sure, but I took a lot away from that … I’m happy that in the next few I did what I did to help us win.”

Barrie blew things open in the 5th and 6th with back-to-back two-run innings that forced Alvarado out of the game. Marek Deska came on in relief and was able to limit the damage, allowing just one run over two and two-thirds innings.

Toronto attempted to mount a comeback against Garces. Following a seven-pitch walk to Jordan Castaldo, Marcus Knecht came up and connected with a first-pitch changeup, sending it over the right-field wall to cut the lead to 5-3.

Knecht spoke about Garces postgame: “He kept us off balance all game, kept his pitches up, we didn’t really make any adjustments until late. It’s a game that shows what they can do, but we got a quick turnaround tomorrow to show what we can do.”

Barrie added one more insurance run in the top of the 9th on an RBI single from Nolan Machibroda. Then Carlos Sano came in for the bottom of the 9th and picked up the save, securing the Game 4 win for Barrie.

Up Next: A must-win Game 5 in Barrie. A victory for Toronto would set up a second-round series with the Welland Jackfish, while a Baycats' win would pit Barrie against the high-flying Hamilton Cardinals. First pitch is Wednesday from Athletic Kulture Stadium at 7:35 PM.