With the season on the line at Tuesday night’s game, the Barrie Baycats came out victorious and will play another day. Barrie, ranked fifth head of Tuesday’s game, defeated the fourth place Guelph Royals in the Canadian Baseball League’s (CBL) Wildcard Game. The Baycats took the lead at the top of the first inning, but by the fourth inning the Royals had tied things up, 2-2. With the help of Francisco Hernandez and veteran player Ryan Rijo, the Baycats headed into the eight up 3-2, before achieving a final score of 4-2. With much credit to pitcher Frank Graces, the Royals went scoreless over the last five innings. Two rounds of playoff baseball now lie between the Baycats and the CBL’s inaugural championship as a fully professional league. Last year, the Baycats lost in the finals to the Welland Jackfish while the league was still known as the Intercounty Baseball League. In 2024, the Baycats were league champions. The next challenge for the Baycats will be a best of seven semi-final series against the Hamilton Cardinals. The winner of that series will advance to finals to play the winner of the Jackfish and the London Major’s semi finals series. The Baycats will take to Bernie Arbour stadium in Hamilton for the first semi-finals game on Friday.
