Moving into the second week of the 2018 IBL season, the Burlington Herd look to add one to the win column in a chance at redemption on Thursday night as they take on the four-time defending IBL Dominico Trophy Champions, the Barrie Baycats.

First pitch is slated for 7:15pm from The Barn at Nelson Park and tickets are available at BurlingtonHerd.com. If you can’t make it to the game, “The Voice of The Herd” Ken Beckett has the call for this one. Tune in for the live radio broadcast at Mixlr.com/IBLHerd.

Taking the mound in his first appearance in a Herd uniform will be left-handed pitcher Chris Boatto. The Maple, Ontario native spent the 2017 IBL season with the London Majors, pitching mostly out of the bullpen. In 11 appearances on the mound with the Majors, Boatto started three games and had a record of 1-1 with a K/BB ratio of 29/10 over 24.1 innings pitched. Boatto was solid on the mound in the playoffs for London, compiling a 2-0 record over two starts in the post-season.

Boatto spent his college playing time with the NCAA Division II Alderson Broaddus Battlers, going 13-7 over 26 starts across three seasons. The six-foot tall lefty fashioned an ERA of 4.01 in his time with the Battlers, recording 110 strikeouts and pitching three complete games. In 2016, Boatto and his Battlers won the GMAC (Great Midwest Athletic Conference) Conference Championship.

The Herd will look to get something going at the plate and support their new pitcher with some runs after being held to just one run over their first two games. Another Herd newcomer, Kaneohe, Hawaii native Jensen Park has been performing well at the plate, being named Herd Player of the Week after collecting three hits for a .375 AVG over his first two games to go along with both a Slugging and On-Base Percentage of .500.

Burlington will once again take on a formidable opponent in the Baycats in a re-match of Sunday’s game, where the Herd dropped their first meeting of the season 15-1 in Barrie. Leading the charge at the plate for the Baycats was third baseman Kevin Atkinson, recording four hits and three RBI. The seven-year Baycats veteran is among the league leaders after just one week with a .625 batting average and five hits, earning him IBL Hitter of the Week honours for the period of May 6-13.

Taking the bump for the visiting Baycats will be Santos Arias. This will be the first start for Arias in a Baycats uniform in 2018 but the right-hander did get some work in relief in Sunday’s win over Burlington, pitching two innings while giving up two hits and no earned runs.

Arias spent some time in the Minnesota Twins organization and last pitched for Barrie during the 2015 season, putting together a 5-2 record and an ERA of 3.56 with 60 strikeouts, 12 walks, and 80 hits over 70.2 innings pitched.

For live-game broadcasts, interviews, player profiles, game previews, and recaps, follow “The Voice of the Herd” Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett.

The Burlington Herd are a member of Ontario's most elite baseball league, the Intercounty Baseball League. The 100-year old summer league is one of the oldest baseball leagues in the world, with the league established in 1919, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. For more information, visit www.iblherd.com or follow the Herd on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @IBLHerd.