By: Ken Beckett

BURLINGTON – The dog days of summer have arrived as everybody’s favourite day of the season takes place on Saturday with the Burlington Herd set to host the Kitchener Panthers on Bark In The Park Day.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05PM and fans are encouraged to bring their furry friends for a dog day afternoon at the park. Tickets are $6 and include a guaranteed pet-themed giveaway. They can be purchased at IBLHerd.com or at the front gate.

The Herd come into Saturday’s game looking to snap a three-game losing skid, most recently falling 8-6 to the Barrie Baycats on Thursday night. Barrie jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in that game, but the Herd showed resolve to battle their way back and score five runs over the seventh and eighth innings and to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth despite the rally ultimately falling short.

Burlington collected 12 hits in the game on Thursday, with nine out of the ten batters who came to the plate collecting a hit. Of the 12 hits that the Herd registered, seven were multi-base hits with six doubles to go along with a triple.

Herd second baseman Grant Okawa was one of the hitters to register a double on Thursday against the Baycats. Two-base hits have become something of a calling card for the second-year player after re-joining the team at the end of June. 

In four games since re-joining the club on June 30th, the Mississauga native has collected four hits, all of which have been doubles. That matches his total of doubles from all of last season, when he had four doubles in 18 games in 2017.

Taking the hill for the Herd on Saturday will be right-handed pitcher Casey Howard. This will be just the second start of the season for Howard but his 12th appearance on the mound for Burlington in 2018.

Over 11 appearances, Howard sports a record of 2-1 to go along with a 4.84 ERA. Over 35.1 innings pitched, the Brantford native has recorded 24 strikeouts to go along with 16 walks and 37 hits. In his only other start of the season, Howard pitched 7.1 innings while registering just two hits and no earned runs to go along with six strikeouts in a win over the Brantford Red Sox.

The Kitchener Panthers come to Casey Cosgrove Field on a three-game winning streak and sit in first place in the league standings, just one game up on the Baycats.

Kitchener were last in action on Thursday night, picking up 7-6 victory at home over the London Majors. It was the Majors who were in the lead for most of the game, maintaining a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Panthers scored four runs in the seventh, two in the eighth to tie it, and then a walk-off run in the ninth to steal the win.

Panthers centerfielder Anthony Leader scored the winning run on Thursday, scoring from second on a throwing error by London’s second baseman on a play at first to try and throw out Kitchener third baseman Colin Gordner to end the game.

It was Keegan Marsden who was one of the top offensive contributors in Kitchener’s come from behind victory, going 2-for-4 at the dish with three runs driven in. All three runs came courtesy of a three-run shot in the seventh inning off Majors starter Dylan Brooks.

Panthers catcher Mike Gordner also got in on the action, going 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. The hit extended Gordner’s lengthy hitting streak to 12 games, with the Waterloo native collecting 22 hits over that span to raise his batting average from .341 to a league-best .394. Gordner’s 37 hits this season are also tops in the league.

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.