Cardinals One Win From CBL Finals After 7-2 Game 4 Win

BARRIE - The Hamilton Cardinals are one win away from history. Hector Yan tossed five scoreless innings and Reyny Reyes crushed a two-run homer as the Cardinals knocked off the Barrie Baycats 7-2 on Thursday night at Athletic Kulture Stadium, grabbing a 3-1 stranglehold on their best-of-seven semifinal series. A win in Game 5 on Friday night at Bernie Arbour Stadium would send Hamilton to the CBL Finals for the first time since 2002. Brandon Nicoll wasted no time setting the tone, going deep to left field in the top of the first to open the scoring. Yan took over from there. The right-hander scattered three hits and struck out eight over five shutout frames, working around six walks to earn the win and improve to 7-1 on the season. The Cardinals broke the game open in the fifth. Angel Guerrero doubled and stole third, Darlin German brought him home with a single to centre, and the wheels kept turning. German swiped home as part of a chaotic sequence on the basepaths, and Dario Borrero capped the four-run frame with a two-run single up the middle. Barrie scratched across single runs in the seventh and ninth - an RBI single from Francisco Hernandez and a solo shot from Canice Ejoh - but never seriously threatened. Reyes put the exclamation point on it in the eighth, taking Braedan Pakkala deep to left for a two-run shot after Borrero reached on an error. Danny Garcia and Logan Warkentin bridged the middle innings, and Freisis Adames came on to record the final two outs in the ninth, getting Ryan Rijo to ground out to seal it. German finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two stolen bases, while Reyes and Borrero each drove in two on the night. First pitch for Game 5 is set for 7:35 p.m. Friday at Bernie Arbour Stadium. A win punches the ticket to the CBL Finals.