By: Ken Beckett

BURLINGTON -- It was an impressive day at the diamond for the Burlington Herd, picking up 14 hits in a dominant 11-4 win over the first place Kitchener Panthers on Saturday.

The Herd capitalized on early mistakes by Panthers starting pitcher Christian Hauck, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning as Hauck gave up five walks, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch in a shaky outing on the mound. 

Canice Ejoh brought in two runs in the first frame on a two-run single, while Andrew Mercier and Nolan Pettipiece each drove in a run on singles as the Herd batted around in the first inning, with Justin Gideon coming to the plate twice.

The Herd would not let up in the second inning, adding five more runs on five hits which would spell the end of the afternoon for Hauck on the mound. Ejoh singled again in the second, while Tyler Patzalek and Reese O'Farrell had RBI singles. Breaking things wide open was Nolan Pettipiece, who came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a bases clearing double to drive in three runs.

Pettipiece had an incredible day at the plate for the Herd, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI's. The Burlington native has been hot at dish as of late, collecting ten hits over his last six games, while driving in five runs in that span.

The Panthers would get on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning, as Brian Burton and Mike Gordner scored on a throwing error by Burlington's second baseman Grant Okawa to trim the Herd's lead to 10-2.

Two more runs were added by Kitchener in the top of the fifth inning as Zarley Cina and Yorbis Borroto would score on hits from Mike Glinka and Burton respectively to cut Burlington's lead to 10-4 after four and a half innings of play.

That would be as close as Kitchener would get, as the Herd added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI double off the bat of left fielder Tyler Patzalek which scored Ejoh.

Herd starting pitcher Casey Howard looked good on the mound in just his second start of the season, pitching 8 innings while giving up eight hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts to pick up the win, improving his record to 3-1 on the year.

Reliever Tyler Herr shut the door in relief of Howard in the ninth inning, giving up one hit while striking out two batters. Saturday marks the final appearance in a Herd uniform in 2018 for Herr, as he has signed with the San Rafael Pacifics of the Pacific Association.

Over ten appearance for the Herd, the Katy, Texas native put together a 3-0 record with one save and a miniscule 0.47 ERA, recording 22 strikeouts over 19.1 innings pitched.

Christian Hauck was credited with the loss on Saturday against his former team to drop his record to 5-2 on the year. The Orangeville native struggled in this one, going just 1.2 innings while giving up ten earned runs, eight hits, and five walks in addition to one strikeout.

The Herd are back in action on Sunday afternoon, travelling to Christie Pits to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 2PM. They then travel to Hamilton to take on the Cardinals on Tuesday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:30PM.

Burlington returns home to Casey Cosgrove Field on Thursday to host the Guelph Royals, with first pitch scheduled for 7:15PM. Then next Saturday, the Herd host the London Majors with first pitch set to go at 1:05PM.

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