Majors swept by BayCats

Written by Dan Haugh / Photo by Matt Hiscox

The London Majors finished the 2024 regular season in third place in the IBL with a 26-16 record, one game behind second place Barrie Baycats.

London fought hard in all three games in the semi-final series against the Baycats, but came out on the short end of an 8-2 score in the deciding game. The Baycats are undefeated in the 2024 playoffs after sweeping the Toronto Maple Leafs and now the London Majors. In the semi-final series the Baycats received amazing performances from their three starting pitchers. Frank Garces allowed one run in his eight innings in game one while striking out 10. Cesar Rosado struck out 11 London batters in his seven innings in game two. Juan Benitez was the winning pitcher in game three with seven strong scoreless innings. Those three Barrie pitchers also recorded the wins in the three-game sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Alex Springer started on the mound for London on Tuesday night in Barrie and took the loss. Braeden Ferrington, Daniel Gore, Skylar Janisse and Jaryd Lund threw in relief of Springer. As he had been all season, Kaiden Cardoso was the offensive leader for the Majors in the final game in Barrie. Cardoso who led the team in batting average at .327 and home runs with eight during the regular season, went two-for-four with an RBI and a run scored. Eduardo De Oleo who was the team leader in RBI with 31 and doubles with 11 during the regular season had one hit and the other RBI in Monday night's contest. Brad Verhoeven and Tristan Osika had two hits each while Victor Plaz and Drew Lawerence each had a hit to bring the London hit total to nine.

The London Majors faced adversity at different times during the regular season and playoffs, but had a fairly successful season despite not being able to advance deeper into the playoffs. The Barrie Baycats will advance to the Intercounty Baseball League Final to face the winner of the other semi-final series between the Welland Jackfish and the Guelph Royals.

The London Majors look forward to welcoming their very loyal fans back to the Forks of The Thames and to Labatt Park for the beginning of the 2025 IBL season.