Pimentel Dominates in first outing

Written by: Evan Frederiksen

The London Majors came out on top in another tight contest, defeating the Kitchener Panthers 7-5 Thursday night.

The offence started early as Starling Joseph drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run of the game in the top of the first. Trent Lenihan then homered to center field in the top of the third to extend the Majors' lead to 2-0.

Cesilio Pimentel made his Majors debut and was strong over six innings. The Dominican Republic native was almost unhittable through the first 3 innings, as he just allowed one hit while striking out five. The fourth inning gave Pimentel some problems, though, as the Panthers got two runs, one from an RBI groundout from Yosvani Penalver and an RBI single from Yunior Ibarra, to tie the game up at 2-2.

The Majors' bats didn’t waste any time to respond, though, as they put up four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Tucker Zdunich and Starling Joseph each had an RBI, while Jarrett Burney drove in two to give the Majors a cushion heading into the rest of the game.

Cesilio Pimentel bounced back from a shaky fourth inning and pitched a scoreless top of the fifth and sixth, ending with just two runs given up on four hits while striking out six.

Jarrett Burney gave the Majors more insurance in the top of the seventh, driving in Tucker Zdunich to give the Majors a 7-2 lead. Kade Douglas and Dustin Davidson were then called upon and came out of the bullpen and pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh and eighth, combining for four strikeouts.

Caleb Cassie was then roughed up for three runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Panthers desperately tried to produce as much ninth-inning magic as they could, but it was shut down when Skylar Janisse came in and recorded his CBL-leading third save of the season to seal the win for the Majors. 

The Majors now improve to 4-1 on the season and look to continue the positive momentum heading into a stretch where they’ll play three more games in three days, starting with the Toronto Maple Leafs coming into Labatt Park Friday, May 29th