Tanner Nivins watches his home run fly out of Jack Couch Park on Saturday night during Game 4 between the Kitchener Panthers and Hamilton Cardinals. (Photo by Dan Congdon)

Panthers sweep Hamilton; advance to IBL championship against Barrie tonight 

The Kitchener Panthers are back in familiar territory. With their sweep of the Hamilton Cardinals in the Intercounty Baseball League semi-final series, the Panthers will face the Barrie Baycats in the IBL championship series for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Kitchener lost to Barrie in the finals the past two years, and again in 2015. The Panthers got to this spot by winning twice over the weekend to dispose of the Cardinals in four games. 

On Friday night in Hamilton, Yoen Socarras turned in one of the best pitching performances of the IBL playoffs, giving the Panthers seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball while striking out 12 Hamilton batters. That set the stage for Kitchener’s bats to give Socarras run support, which finally came in the top of the fifth inning. With Hamilton starter Ben Braun also dealing, Kitchener managed just two hits through the first four innings. In the fifth though, the Panthers’ opportunistic hitters took advantage of a leadoff walk and an error to load the bases with one out, before Tanner Nivins hit a sacrifice fly to left field to open the scoring. He was followed by Liam Wilson, who promptly singled to score Andy Leader, and the lead was 2-0. The Cardinals did not get a base hit off Socarras until the bottom of the sixth inning, when a leadoff double and a single put two men on for the first time in the game, but they were both stranded to end the threat. Brady Schnarr took over for Kitchener in the eighth and pitched two innings, not giving up a hit to earn the save and seal the victory in game three, 2-0. 

On Saturday night in Kitchener, the Panthers had a chance to end the series at home. While the previous night featured a pitching duel, Saturday’s game was anything but. Kitchener jumped all over Hamilton starter Chris Lazar, scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning thanks to back-to-back-to-back doubles to open the inning from Yorbis Borroto, Nivins, and Wilson, before Brian Burton clubbed a two-run homerun to make the game 4-0 before Lazar recorded an out. Kitchener added another run in the third inning and Lazar’s night was over. On the other side, Kitchener’s Miguel Lahera pitched six strong innings, giving up four hits and one run. Nivins put the game out of reach in the fifth inning, hitting his fourth homer of the postseason, a two-run shot that brought Borroto home with him. A bases loaded single from Colin Gordner in the seventh made the game 8-1 Panthers, and that’s how the series would end. Nivins led the way offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI. 

So, the stage is set. It’s Panthers versus Baycats, once again. Barrie swept Kitchener in the 2017 finals before beating them in six games last summer. The IBL has notoriously been a league of dynasties, and Barrie is the current powerhouse having won the last five consecutive championships. Before its rise to the top of the league, Barrie was constantly victimized by the Brantford Red Sox, losing to Brantford four times during their six-year reign. Once they had slain the dragon, the Baycats became the heir to the IBL throne. The Panthers are hoping that they can write a similar story this season and finally take down Barrie in the championship. The best-of-seven series gets going tonight in Barrie – thanks to the Baycats beating the Panthers in a one-game playoff to decide first-place at regular season’s end – before visiting Jack Couch Park in Kitchener on Thursday. The full schedule for the championship is below. 

Game 1: Kitchener @ Barrie – Tuesday, August 27th 7:30pm 

Game 2: Kitchener vs. Barrie – Thursday, August 29th 7:30pm 

Game 3: Kitchener @ Barrie – Saturday, August 31st 7:00pm 

Game 4: Kitchener vs. Barrie – Sunday, September 1st 7:00pm 

Game 5*: Kitchener @ Barrie – Tuesday, September 3rd 7:30pm 

Game 6*: Kitchener vs. Barrie – Thursday, September 5th 7:30pm 

Game 7*: Kitchener @ Barrie – Saturday, September 7th 7:00pm