By: Ken Beckett

BURLINGTON – With just a handful of home games remaining on the schedule, the Burlington Herd return to Cosgrove Field to host the Barrie Baycats on Thursday night.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:15PM and tickets can be purchased at the front gate or at IBLHerd.com.

The Herd return home after a tough loss on the road against Barrie on Sunday, falling 13-4. The Baycats lead the season series 4-0 and this is the final meeting of the regular season between the two teams.

All four of the Herd’s runs on Sunday came in the 8th inning, courtesy of RBI’s from Justin Gideon, Kenny Hahnfield, and Mattingly Romanin who drove in two runs late in that ball game thanks to a two-run home run hit off reliever Brandon Catena.

For Romanin, the home run was officially his second of the season, though it was actually the third homer he’s hit in 2018 and the second of last week as the Burlington native hit a solo shot in Thursday’s rained out game against the London Majors. That game was cancelled after four innings due to rain and will be played in its entirety at a later date, thus erasing any statistical achievements from last Thursday’s game.

His two RBI’s on Sunday in Barrie moved Romanin into a tie with Reese O’Farrell for third on the team in runs drive in with seven on the year. Andrew Mercier ranks second on the team with eight, while Justin Gideon is the team-leader with 20 RBI’s in 2018.

Gideon recorded his team-best 20th run driven in thanks to an RBI triple to centerfield in the 8th inning on which scored Daniel Ohorodnyk. It was a notable weekend for Herd hitters collecting triples, as Vaughn Bryan and Canice Ejoh each recorded one on Saturday at home against the Hamilton Cardinals as well.

Getting the start on the mound on Thursday against Barrie will be Herd newcomer Trent Lunsford. While this will officially be his first start in the 2018 record books, Lunsford did start last Thursday’s rained out game against London in which he pitched 3.2 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs while registering six strikeouts.

The Baycats visit Cosgrove Field sitting in second place in the IBL standings with a 16-8 record, just one game back of the first-place Kitchener Panthers. Barrie have won two-straight games and are also winners of eight of their last ten games as well.

In Sunday’s win over the Herd, Barrie’s offense was firing on all cylinders, launching a 20-hit attack in which six different hitters had multi-hit nights.

One of the leaders offensively in Sunday’s game was Baycats rightfielder and lead-off hitter Ryan Spataro, going 4-for-6 at the plate with a double, one run driven in, three runs scored, and a stolen base. The stolen base was Spataro’s seventh of the season but also the 200th of his IBL career.

Spataro holds the league’s all-time stolen bases record, taking the crown last season from London Majors player Arden Eddie, who previously set the record with 179 stolen bases over a 31-year playing career from 1968 to 1999.

If you can’t make it to the game, “The Voice of The Herd” Ken Beckett has the call for all Herd home games on Mixlr.com/IBLHerd. For live-game broadcasts, interviews, player profiles, game previews, and recaps, follow Ken on Twitter at @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.