Majors get good pitching and timely offence in win.

Written by Dan Haugh / Photo by Matt Hiscox

The London Majors fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, but they battled back with four runs in the home half of the first. They added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday afternoon at Labatt Memorial Park. The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Majors,  ̈It was a good bounce-back effort for us today, ̈ said London field manager Roop Chanderdat.  ̈Especially with it being our third game in three days. ̈

Jose Arias started on the  ́bump ́ for London to pick up his second win of the 2025 season. He threw 99 pitches in the 6 2/3 innings where he allowed two earned runs on nine Maple Leafs hits, along with five strikeouts. Ryan Beitel came on in relief with two out and the bases loaded in the seventh. Toronto infielder Ryan Dos Santos hit a weak ground ball straight back to Beitel for the rally-ending third out. Beitel then set the Maple Leafs down in order in the eighth inning and handed the ball over to workhorse Skylar Janisse to close out the ninth inning and earn his fourth save of the season.

Manager Roop Chanderdat had this praise for today's pitchers and the Majors team in general.  ̈We got good pitching from all three guys today. Arias gave us a quality start, and then we got three shutout innings from Beitel and Janisse. We did a lot of good things offensively. We got contributions from the whole lineup. This team is a very resilient group. ̈

After the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an unearned run, the Majors sent nine men to the plate in their first turn on offence. London scored four runs in that inning on four hits and two walks. Designated hitter Eduardo De Oleo led the nine-hit London offence with three hits, one RBI and a run scored in four At Bats. Champ Garner had two hits and two RBI. Tucker Zdunich and Brad Verhoeven both hit RBI doubles and scored one run each themselves. Toby Simmons had a double in the seventh inning and came home on a Francisco Fajardo single. Fajardo later scored in the inning on one of Eduardo De Oleo ́s three hits.

The London Majors remain in a second-place tie with the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers. Both London and Chatham-Kent have 13-7 records and trail first-place Welland Jackfish by 1.5 games in the IBL standings. Gates for the Annual Canada Day matchup vs the Barrie Baycats will open at 4:05 PM and first pitch will fly close to 6 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at Londonmajors.com