At the half way point of the season and the Barrie Baycats aren’t looking like the championship team of the last three years-they’re looking better.
The Baycats are 14-0 with no signs of slowing down. In those fourteen games, Barrie has outscored the opposition 157-57. Baycats GM and Coach Angus Roy is like anyone else who loves the game and enjoys a good long ball from time to time, but stresses that he enjoys a well played game as opposed to slugfest.
“Our hitting has been really good obviously but that isn’t the only thing to win games for a team,” said Roy. “Give me a nice defensive play or a great pitching duel; that’s good baseball to me. Other teams are hitting just as well as we are so it could be dangerous to get into a slugfest with them; that said I’m also very confident when our guys step up to the plate.”
There are those who will want to say that the team is too stacked and maybe it’s not fair for the rest of the league; those detractors may want to check the IBL stats. In the homeruns category, Barrie’s entry into the top five are infielders Kevin Atkinson and Jordan Castaldo who are tied for fifth with eight other players.
Perennially one of the league’s best hitters, Sean Reilly from the Kitchener Panthers (11-3 on the season) leads the IBL in HR’s and RBI’s. Long-time Baycats player Ryan Spataro leads in batting average with .517 but in that category only Conner Morro helps Barrie fill in the top ten. Roy knows there are great players in the league and teams that are just as good or on their way to being better so the Baycats need to be prepared.
“When you get a streak like this going you need to be aware that at some point the wheels may fall off,” said Roy. “It doesn’t mean they have to, but if and when you lose one you can’t feel like it’s the end of the world. That’s where my true confidence is with this team; the professionalism. A start like this is good because obviously you want home field advantage in the playoffs so the better the record the better the chances, and I know that our guys may slip in a game or two, but this team is too dedicated to allow it to happen for long.”
The Baycats aren’t the only team to be looking for home field advantage when the playoffs get here in August. In what can only be chalked up to how the Baseball Gods Work In Funny Ways, the London Majors are also 14-0 on the season; should both teams remain perfect by Tuesday June 27 they will meet at Barrie’s Coates Stadium at 7:45pm for what is already being dubbed an instant classic. The two squads were supposed to have met in the season home opener on May 7 and for a double header on June 4, but Mother Nature rained on those games, leaving us with two powerhouses on a collision course.
“It is really odd how that worked out,” said Roy. “Baseball is a magical game in that way isn’t it? Look, we honestly wish we could play London and Kitchener more often; they’re two solid teams with a great core of guys who are just as dedicated as we are. Everybody is talking about us and London, but Kitchener is right in there too with only three losses; should us or the Majors slip up, the Panthers will jump on it.”
Roy is usually the type to pick out a problem and address it, even in a winning streak or being a defending championship squad. This year though the manager is hesitant to find anything really wrong with his Baycats. While the hitting half of the team is doing its job so is pitching. Emilis Guerrero has pitched brilliantly and is second in the league with 4 wins and tied for first with 41 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched. The new face on the mound for Barrie has been just a great as Claudio Custodio has been dominant in his 3 wins with an ERA of 1.95 and 29 SO in 23 innings. The pitching has been a comfort zone as of yet with opposing teams not being able to find ways to get hits off the Baycats and Roy feels that’s just continuing the tradition for the squad.
“I’m not always comfortable giving nothing but praise because I feel like there is always room for improvement, but how can I say anything here right now,” said Roy. “We have always had great pitching so I’m not surprised there. Our guys are making me and the city proud right now and I’ll give them the credit that’s due, but putting my manager’s cap on for a second, we could tighten up the defence a bit. We’re doing fine there but I look to as the season goes on and making sure we stay on our toes the whole time; so the defence needs to stay firm in the plan as other teams start to push.”
Catcher Kyle DeGrace has been with the Baycats for six seasons and been here for 3 of the four IBL championships (2005 was their first). The popular veteran is never one to shy away from the facts and feels there’s no point beating around the bush with his current squad.
“We’re a pretty good team, eh?” said DeGrace following the Baycats 14-2 win over Toronto on June 15. “We finally have a bench which helps. We’ve always been short guys whether it’s been work issues or family reasons, which need to be first and foremost, but this year we have guys filling in when needed and doing what they have to do. This team has always been about doing your part of the job; if you do your part of the job then the team benefits from your work. We work, that’s what this team does when we hit the field; we go to work.”
The Baycats next three games will be big ones. Saturday June 24 Barrie hosts third place Kitchener at 7PM at Coates Stadium Sunday June 25 Barrie travels to Hamilton to face the Cardinals for a 2PM tilt. The highly anticipated match-up happens Tuesday June 27 as the also undefeated London Majors are in town for the Coates Stadium showdown at 7:45PM.
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