NEWS RELEASE
INTERCOUNTY BASEBALL LEAGUE
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BARRIE — The Toronto Maple Leafs ended the Barrie Baycats' dynasty Saturday afternoon at Coates Stadium.
Toronto built a big lead early in Game 2 of the best-of-three IBL semifinal and held on for a 13-11 win to advance to the Dominico Cup final against London.
It also marked an end to Barrie's six-season reign atop the league, which started in 2014.
Sean Reilly had one of three Toronto home runs. The Leafs' DH finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs.
Toronto's Marcus Knecht homered and drove in five, Jordan Castaldo went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and three runs, Dan Marra singled twice and scored twice, Justin Marra had two hits and a run, Chandler McLaren drove in a run and scored, and Connor Lewis went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Justin Cicatello (2-0) earned the win, throwing six innings and allowing a run on 10 hits with three strikeouts. Dustin Richardson struck out one in a clean ninth for his second save of the playoffs. Richardson had to shut the door after Barrie battled back from a 10-run deficit starting in the seventh inning.
Jeff Cowan led the Baycats with four hits, including a home run, five RBI and two runs. Jake Wilson went 2-for-6 with three RBI and three runs, Avery Tuck, Ryan Rijo and Royce Ando each had three hits and an RBI, Branfy Infante singled three times and scored twice, and Carson Burns singed and scored twice.
Barrie's Juan Benitez (1-1) was shelled for 10 runs on nine hits in 2.2 innings. He walked two and struck out one.
Meanwhile, London's Owen Boon struck out 16 Brantford batters in a complete-game 6-0 shutout Saturday at Arnold Anderson Stadium that sent the first-place Majors to the IBL final against Toronto.
Boon (1-0) scattered five hits and walked one in a 125-pitch effort as London swept the best-of-three semifinal.
Chris McQueen went 2-for-5 with two runs and two stolen bases, Byron Reichstein singled twice and drove in a run, and Humberto Ruiz and Keith Kandel each had an RBI.
For sixth-place Brantford, Jon Dziomba had a pair of hits and Gianfranco Morello doubled.
Adam Jafine (1-1) also went the distance, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
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