Majors bounce back vs Brantford

Written by Dan Haugh / Photo by Matt Hiscox 

A four-run rally in the third inning and strong pitching led the London Majors to a 5-3 victory over the Brantford Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at Arnold Anderson Stadium. London field manager Roop Chanderdat emphasized the importance of the pitching his team received this afternoon, "The key today was the effort from our pitchers. We got a very gutsy start from Colby Ring in his four good innings. On top of that, Jose Arias continues to be dominant since his move to the bullpen. Skylar Janisse is just a bulldog in relief."

Colby Ring turned in four strong innings that saw him allow only two unearned runs on two hits and three strikeouts. His performance was remarkable even though he gave up six walks. Three of those walls came in the first inning, but Ring showed the gutsiness that manager Chanderdat mentioned and only allowed the one unearned run in that inning. Jose Arias was next on the mound for London, producing four strong innings of his own. Arias gave up one run on three Brantford hits with four strikeouts to give him his fourth win of the season. Skylar Janisse came on in the bottom of the ninth inning to get his 10th save of the season in the 19th time he has appeared in a game this season. After allowing a lead-off single to Christian Ortega, Janisse struck out the next three batters to preserve the 5-3 victory

The four-run third inning rally started with a walk to Ty Mosher, Dre Amaral reaching base on an error, and Francisco Fajardo was hit by a pitch. Eduardo De Oleo then drew a walk, forcing in Dre Amaral with the first run of the inning. Next batter up was designated hitter Cleveland Brownlee, whose sacrifice fly scored Francisco Fajardo. The final two runs of the third inning crossed the plate on a two-out single to center field by Tucker Zdunich. London manager Chanderdat provided some final comments about the London offence. "Tucker Zdunich came up clutch with a two-out hit to drive in two runs. It was nice to see Cleveland Brownlee drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. Even with the walk and the errors, we found a way to win. It’s a testament to the resiliency of our team."

In all, six London hits came from Tucker Zdunich, with two and one each from Francisco Fajardo, Eduardo De Oleo, Toby Simmons, and Josh Niles. The Majors are now in third place in the IBL standings with a 20-12 record. These two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon at Labatt Memorial Park at 4 P.M.