By: Ken Beckett

BURLINGTON -- The Burlington Herd and the London Majors split a Saturday doubleheader at Casey Cosgrove Field, with the Herd winning the first game 8-6 and the Majors picking up a 6-5 extra innings win in the second game.

Herd Win First Game 8-6

The Herd took the lead early in the second inning of the first game, scoring three runs as both Jon Thibodeau and Nolan Pettipiece picked up doubles in the second frame. It was Burlington designated hitter Daniel Ohordnyk, along with Pettipiece and second baseman Robbie Cant driving in the three Herd runs.

Burlington would extend their lead in the third inning as Vaughn Bryan used his incredible speed around the basepaths to collect a triple, his fourth of the season. Bryan would then score on a wild pitch by Majors reliever Braeden Ferrington to put the Herd on top 3-0.

The Majors made it a one-run game in the top of the fourth inning, as Matt Hexter and Tristan Buntrock each had RBI singles to trim the Herd lead to 3-2, scoring Cleveland Brownlee and Mike Ambrose respectively.

Justin Gideon stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning to re-establish some space between the Herd and the Majors on the scoreboard, putting Burlington up 8-2 at the time. The bases loaded home run was Gideon's seventh long ball of the season, while the RBI's increased his totals to 27 on the year in that stat category.

London would make it close in the top of the seventh inning as Byron Reichstein launched a grand slam, his eighth home run of the season to trim the Herd's lead to 8-6.

That would be as close as they would get as Herd reliever Ben Braun shut the door after that to pick up the save, his first of the 2018 season. Burlington's starter Ben Donnell was credited with the win to improve his record to 1-1 this season.

Taking the loss for London in game one of the doubleheader was starter Dylan Brooks, who was pulled out of the game early due to injury after pitching 1.1 innings and giving up three hits to go along with two earned runs and one strikeout.

Majors Win Second Game 6-5 in Extra Innings

After a long day of baseball, the Burlington Herd and London Majors went to extra innings in Game Two of the doubleheader, with London picking up the 6-5 win in nine innings of what was scheduled to be a seven inning game.

London jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning as catcher Mike Ambrose drove home Evan Britt with an RBI double. Then Cleveland Brownlee stepped to the plate and hit a three-run home run, his seventh homer of the season, to extend London's lead.

The Herd got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning as Canice Ejoh had an RBI single which scored Justin Gideon, one of two RBI's on the night for Ejoh.

Extending their lead back to four runs in the top of the second were the Majors as shortstop Keith Kandel hit an RBI double to score Tristan Buntrock, who started off the inning with a single of his own. The run driven in was Kandel's eighth of the season.

Burlington would make it close in the bottom of the third inning, plating three runs to trim the Majors' lead to 5-4. Gideon started off the third with a lead-off double and that was followed by a single from catcher Mattingly Romanin. Both runners were brought in on a three-run home run from Vaughn Bryan, his second homer of the season, to put the Herd within one.

That's how things would remain until the bottom of the seventh inning when Bryan got on base with a double and then would come in to score on an RBI single from Ejoh to tie things up at 5-5 and send the game into extra innings.

It was in the top of the ninth inning when London reclaimed the lead for good as centerfielder Robert Doyle started off the inning with a single off reliever Kyle Symington and later scored on an RBI single off the bat of R.J. Fuhr. The run driven in was Fuhr's ninth of the season.

The Herd tried valiantly to to fight back in the bottom of the ninth as Andrew Mercier hit a single with two outs. But with the tying run at first base in Mercier and the winning run at the plate, designated hitter Dan Ohordnyk struck out looking to end the game.

Picking up the win on the mound for the Majors is reliever Kelvin Pichardo, who pitched three innings of work in relief of starter Owen Boon. Pichardo gave up one earned run on four hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts to improve his record to 2-3.

Taking the loss for the Herd in the second game of the doubleheader is reliever Kyle Symington, who pitched 5 innings in relief of starter Rich Corrente. The right-handed Symington gave up one unearned run as well as one earned run, in addition to two walks while recording six strikeouts in the loss to drop his record to 1-1 this season.

The Herd are back in action on Sunday afternoon as they travel to Bernie Arbour Stadium to take on the Hamilton Cardinals. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 2PM. Then they travel to Brantford to take on the Red Sox on Wednesday night with first pitch slated for 8PM.

Back in action at home are the Herd next Saturday as they return to Casey Cosgrove Field to host the Brantford Red Sox, with first pitch scheduled for 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.