THE LONG BALL POWERS THE MAPLE LEAFS TO 11-7 WIN OVER CHATHAM-KENT

Written by: Noam Streiffer

Heading into Sunday's game, the Leafs had lost 5 in a row including a 17-1 blowout to the London Majors. However, the vibes in the clubhouse are back after a much needed victory over Chatham-Kent.

The leafs jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on a Yasiel Puig two-run shot, his first of three on the day. A single from Yordan Manduley, and a productive out from Matt Brandt led to the other two runs in the first 

“It feels awesome, it's been a tough start to the year, I think we were having really good at bats today … it feels good to win”. Brandt commented postgame. 

Chatham-Kent quickly answered back with a 2 run homer of their own, on a majestic swing from Iyad Ansari to cut the deficit in half. However Toronto would answer back with Puig’s second home run of the day to make it a 3 run ballgame. 

Things stayed quiet until the 5th when a 3 run home run from Yushin Ohta tied the game and chased Cam Dimidjian out of the game. He managed to get through four and a third innings despite allowing some runs, taking pressure off the Leafs bullpen. 

Frankie Gulko entered the game and worked out of a jam in the 5th inning, before surrendering 2 runs in the 6th inning on a single from Greyson Barrett and a productive out from Austin Gurney.  

Marcus Knecht chased the Barnstormers Starting Pitcher Mizuki Akatsuka out of the ballgame, on a towering soloshot in the bottom half of the 6th putting the Leafs within one. 

When asked about his approach Knecht commented; “You just try to keep a simple goal, you try to have fun, enjoy the sun… see the ball right away and not care too much about how it happens, and that's when it happens man”.  

The longball would once again be a factor in the Bottom of the 7th, Puig started things off with a solo shot to tie the game, before a massive three run homer from Marcus Knecht gave the Leafs the lead. Yordan Manduley then topped things off with a solo shot of his own to reach the final score of 11-7.  

Reinaldo De Paula and Luis Florentino managed to lock down the barnstormers lineup for the final 3 innings, allowing the Leafs the opportunity to come back, their battery mate Matt Brandt commented on their success postgame: 

“They both have really incredible stuff, so for them it's about coming in and asserting themselves over the strike zone… they established the inside half of the plate and worked from there.”

Up next: the Leafs head to Welland on Wednesday July first with hopes of keeping the good vibes flowing against a tough opponent, first pitch is set for 6:35 PM.