By: Ken Beckett

BURLINGTON – Making up for a game that was rained out earlier this month, the Burlington Herd take on the London Majors in a doubleheader at Casey Cosgrove Field on Saturday.

The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 4PM, while the second game will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of its predecessor. Advanced tickets can be purchased at IBLHerd.com.

The rained out game took place on July 5th and was stopped in the bottom of the fourth inning after the skies opened and a thunderstorm interrupted play. The Herd jumped out to an early 4-0 lead courtesy of the long ball in that meeting earlier this month. Both Mattingly Romanin and Vaughn Bryan left the park early, launching solo home runs in the bottom of the first inning. 

Burlington third baseman Nolan Pettipiece got in on the action with his own home run the next inning, blasting a two-run shot to score catcher Jon Thibodeau and extend the Herd lead to 4-0. 

That lead would last until the top of the fourth inning when all nine Majors batters came to the plate and the team put up six runs. Spurring the offensive outburst that inning was London centerfielder Byron Reichstein who had a three-run home run to give the Majors the lead for the first time in the game.

Answering back in the bottom of the fourth were the Herd as Grant Okawa had an RBI double to score Tyler Patzalek and cut London’s lead to 6-5. Okawa would advance to third base that inning, while Pettipiece earned a walk and would move to second and Gideon reached first on a fielder’s choice to load up the bases with just one out before the umpiring crew were forced to call the game.

Unfortunately as five innings were not played on that night in early July, the game will be forced to be completely replayed and will not continue from where it left off.

The Herd come into Saturday’s doubleheader looking to snap a two-game losing skid, most recently falling 8-2 to the Guelph Royals at home on Thursday.

Burlington centerfielder Justin Gideon recorded two of the Herd’s five hits on Thursday, going 2-for-3 with a single, double, a run scored, and two stolen bases in the loss. The two swiped bags gave Gideon nine stolen bases on the year. 

The London Majors come to Casey Cosgrove Field in the thick of a pennant race, as they sit in third place and four games back of the first place Barrie Baycats. London took the loss in their most recent game, a 7-6 defeat at the hands of those very Baycats last Sunday.

Despite launching a 15-hit attack and jumping out to a 4-0 lead, the Majors couldn’t hang on for the win as the Baycats notched a come from behind victory with seven runs across the sixth and seventh innings. 

Majors designated hitter Cleveland Brownlee was one of five London batters to have a multi-hit game in that contest, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. The 33-year old IBL veteran is working on an eight game hitting streak, collecting 16 hits over that span to raise his batting average from .197 to where it currently sits at .280.

If you can’t make it to the park, “The Voice of The Herd” Ken Beckett has the call for the doubleheader and 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.