It would be hard pressed to follow up the classic from Game 1 that Kitchener and Barrie put on, but the two teams tried their best on Thursday night.

Mike Gordner put the Panthers ahead early with a solo HR in the bottom of the 1st inning for a 1-0 Panthers lead.  That would last until the 4th inning as both starters Jonder Martinez (Kitchener) and Matthew St Kitts (Barrie) found their way into early grooves.

Barrie would respon top of 4 with a HR by Jordan Castaldo to knot the game at 1 a piece.  Kitchener reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles by Mike Andrulis and Colin Gordner after the Panthers loaded the bases with nobody out.

In the 5th it was Barrie’s turn to plate a pair of runs on a RBI groundout by Ryan Spataro and a RBI single by Starlin Rodriguez.

Martinez would come out for the 7th inning and allowed both batters he faced to reach base via a walk and a single.  Kitchener skipper Luke Baker would turn to a trusted member of his bullpen in Mike Schnurr to try and escape the jam.  Schnurr unfortunately had some control issues and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. After a Sac Fly by Starlin Rodriguez plated the go ahead run for the Baycats Schnurr would walk the next 3 batters (1 intentional) which gave Barrie a 6-3 lead in the 7th.

The Panthers couldn’t get much going in the late innings until the bottom of the 9th when Colin Gordner lead off with a double that nearly left the yard.  After an error by Barrie’s 2nd baseman Kevin Atkinson allowed pinch runner Andy Leader to score, Mike Gordner and Brian Burton had singles to load the bases for the Panthers with 1 out.  Barrie would then turn to their closer Chris Nagorski in favor of Emilis Guerrero who had been on the mound since the 6th for the Baycats. Nagorski would extinguish the fire by getting Keegan Marsden to pop up in foul territory and Zach Johnson hit what would have been a game tying single except Nagorski just got his glove on it to knock it down and get the out as it was heading by the mound.  Barrie would hang out to win Game 2 of the IBL Finals by a 6-4 score.

Game 3 of the series goes Saturday night in Barrie at 7:00pm, with Game 4 back in Kitchener Sunday night at 7:00pm.