Majors defeat defending champs

Written by Dan Haugh/Photo by Isaiah Bergsma

The London Majors kept their undefeated string alive with a 6-3 victory over the defending IBL Champion Barrie Baycats on Saturday afternoon in Barrie. London is first in the Intercounty Baseball League standings with a 4-0 record. The Baycats find themselves in the cellar as the only IBL team without a win in the 2025 season at 0-3.

After Barrie took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of unearned runs off starter Travis Keys, the Majors took over the lead in the top of the second inning on number-nine hitter Ken Sugi ́s three-run double that scored Eduardo de Oleo, Ty Mosher and Adrian Harrison, London tacked on a run in the top of the third inning to make their lead 4-2 on Kaiden Cardoso ́s leadoff home run. It was Cardoso ́s third  ́big fly ́ of the 2025 season.

There was no further scoring until Barrie scored one in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Majors scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 6-3. Starter Travis Keys was the winning pitcher for London. Keys pitched six strong innings, giving up only the two unearned runs in the first inning on four hits with six strikeouts. Colby Ring pitched the seventh and eighth innings, while Skylar Janisse pitched a scoreless ninth inning to notch his first save of the season.

Leadoff hitter Toby Simmons took his hot bat, which has his batting average at .588, to Barrie on Saturday afternoon. Simmons led the London eight-hit offence with three hits and one RBI. Kaiden Cardoso, Eduardo De Oleo, Byron Reichstein, Ty Mosher, Adrian Harrison, and Ken Sugi chipped in with one hit each. The Majors are back in action Sunday afternoon when they travel to Kitchener for a 2 P.M. start at Jack Couch Stadium to take on the third-place Panthers. Next action at Labatt Park will be the makeup game on Tuesday vs the Welland Jackfish.