Majors take game 1 of Semi Finals

After a rare Friday night off, the Majors kicked off round 2 of the IBL playoffs with their semi-finals action vs the Hamilton Cardinals who upset the Guelph Royals less than 24 hours prior to the start of this one. The Majors would take a 1-0 series lead on a 12-1 victory led by Jose Arias and Taylor Wright. 

After an attempted steal of home plate in the first inning by the Cardinals Luis Jean was thrown out by Jose Arias, and the Majors’ offence went to work, scoring 5 runs in the first inning. Taylor Wright hit a long home run off the outside fence at Labatt Park that also brought in Jakob Newton. Drew Lawrence brought Cleveland Brownlee who was hit by a pitch for the 11th time this season followed by Dan Perrier who brought home both Mullen and Lawrence. In the 4th inning, Taylor Wright added the 6th run for the Majors his single brought in Newton again. Newton would get himself an RBI in the contest in the 6th inning as his single brought in Keith Kandel who score while Jakob Newton was attempting to stretch the single into a double. A 5-run, 7th inning for the Majors included a single by Chris McQueen who entered in left field and Phil Whelan entered for Austin Wilkie in the contest. 

Jose Arias was back to work after his 7-day rest after pitching 100 innings in the regular season and the pennant-clinching game vs the Royals. Arias pitched 7 innings striking out 8 batters while only allowing 1 run to Ryan Burnside who hit a home run in the 7th inning. Daniel Gore continued to have a great rookie season as he entered the game in the 8th inning, going 2 innings, striking out 2 and only allowing a single hit. 

It is another quick turnaround for the Majors and Cardinals as game 2 goes Sunday in Hamilton at Bernie Arbour Field before returning to Labatt Park on Tuesday night. Tickets for Tuesday nights game are available online at www.londonmajors.com.

The London Majors are a member of Canada’s top baseball league, the Intercounty Baseball League. In 2021 the London Majors won the IBL Jack & Lynn Dominico Trophy. The 100-year-old summer league is one of the oldest baseball leagues in the world, with the league established in 1919, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. For more information, visit www.londonmajors.com or follow the Majors on Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, Youtube and Twitter at @Londonmajors.