Majors complete comeback to even series

Photos by Matt Hiscox

LONDON – Evan Britt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and the London Majors evened their best-of-five quarter-final 1-1 after a 6-5 win over the Hamilton Cardinals Friday night at Labatt Park.

After losing the opener Thursday, London trailed 5-2 before scoring three in the eighth on Carlos Arteaga's bases-clearing triple. That set the stage for the ninth as Britt was hit by a pitch and Chris McQueen – who walked on four pitches – scored the winning run.

Michael Ambrose drove in two and scored once, Byron Reichstein went 4-for-5 with three runs, and Matt Hexter scored once.

Kelvin Pichardo (1-0) picked up the win in relief, throwing a scoreless inning with one hit allowed.

Owen Boon started and went seven innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on eight hits with seven strikeouts.

Jon Dziomba had three hits, two RBI and two runs for the Cardinals. Chris Beer went 2-for-5 with an RBI, Jake Foden had a hit and scored twice, while Jacob Martins and Michael Ssemanda each had an RBI.

Dan Connerty (0-1) took the loss, giving up a run on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning.

Hamilton starter Zackary Gonzalez gave up two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts over seven innings.