Yorbis Borroto of the Kitchener Panthers tags out a runner on Saturday in Kitchener. (Photo by Dan Congdon)

Panthers split weekend playoff games, lead series 2-1 

The Kitchener Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs traded wins over the weekend as the Panthers took a 2-1 lead in their Intercounty Baseball League first round series. Kitchener took game two at home on Saturday night, 7-5, before the Maple Leafs held court with a 12-7 win in Toronto on Sunday. 

On Saturday, Toronto opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first inning and doubled the lead with another solo shot to lead off the second. In the bottom half, Brian Burton singled in Tanner Nivins to cut the lead to 2-1, then Nivins put the Panthers ahead in the third with a three-run home run. The long ball helped Kitchener again in the bottom of the sixth, as Andy Leader sent a two-run blast to left field that made the score 6-2. Toronto made the game close in the eighth, scoring three runs to trail by one, but Kitchener added insurance with a Yorbis Borroto solo home run in the bottom half and Miguel Lahera closed the game out in the ninth. Jasvir Rakkar tossed seven strong innings to earn the win for Kitchener and Borroto led the way offensively with four hits and a home run. 

On Sunday afternoon in Toronto, the Maple Leafs bats came alive. Toronto scored in every inning except for the second and fourth, and Kitchener could only muster one inning scoring a crooked number. That number was five and came in the third inning, when the Panthers batted around to rack up six hits and two walks that made the score 5-2 Kitchener. Toronto’s decisive inning came in the sixth, trailing 6-5, jumping on Kitchener relievers Christian Hauck and Stephen Gade to score four runs on a walk and four hits. The Leafs added two in the seventh and one in the eighth and won game three, 12-7. 

Borroto and Luke Wilson have been tearing up the base paths in this series, batting .615 and .545, respectively, good for second and fourth in the IBL. Game four will be played tomorrow night in Toronto, and the series will return to Kitchener for game five on Thursday night. With a win tomorrow, the Panthers could close out the series at home on Thursday.