Baycats Rally Past Cardinals 10-6 to Force Game 6 in Barrie

HAMILTON – Barrie refused to go quietly. The Baycats erased an early five-run deficit and poured it on late, knocking off the Hamilton Cardinals 10-6 in Game 5 of the CBL semi-finals Friday night at Bernie Arbour Stadium. The Cardinals still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, but Barrie cut the margin and forced the clubs back to Athletic Kulture Stadium for Game 6 on Saturday afternoon. Hamilton came out swinging in the first. Brandon Nicoll reached on a dropped third strike, Darlin German doubled and Tyler Duncan singled home the first run. Jaden Brown, Carlos Dominguez and Dario Borrero followed with consecutive run-scoring hits, and Reyny Reyes capped the five-run frame with an RBI single to centre as the Cards jumped ahead 5-0. Luis Ramirez held that lead through five innings, but the Baycats finally broke through in the sixth. Barrie loaded the bases against reliever Chris Boatto, and a single, hit batter and Hayden Jaco's bases-clearing double to centre flipped the score. Brandon Hernandez added an RBI single and the Baycats sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run inning that made it 7-5. The Cardinals answered in the seventh when German tripled home Nicoll to trim the gap to one. But Barrie stretched it back out in the eighth, using a double by Hernandez and a two-run single by Noel McGarry Doyle to push the lead to 10-6. Carlos Sano worked the final 1.1 innings to earn the save for Barrie, while Boatto was saddled with the loss. Frank Garces got the win for Barrie despite allowing six runs, five earned, over 6.2 innings. German finished 2-for-5 with a double, triple, run and RBI for Hamilton. Reyny Reyes reached base three times and Dario Borrero added two hits. Game 6 is set for Saturday at 4:08 p.m. from Athletic Kulture Stadium in Barrie. If the Baycats extend the series, Game 7 will be Sunday at 4:05 p.m. back at Bernie Arbour Stadium.