Jackfish wind up outranking Majors

Road win in season finale gives Welland home field in first round of IBL playoffs

The Welland Jackfish are entering the Intercounty Baseball League playoffs as the fourth seed, and the league’s newest team is entering post-season play through the front door.

In their final game of the regular season, the Jackfish channelled their inner slippery eel and refused to be reeled in. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings of play on their way to a 9-6 victory over the host Hamilton Cardinals Friday night at Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium.

Welland’s second win in a row, and 19th in league play, eliminated the London Majors from the race to close out the 36-game season in fourth place.

As it turned out, the Jackfish still would have wound up their inaugural season in Canada’s oldest independent amateur baseball league in fourth place had they lost to Hamilton. London’s 17-10 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday night dropped the Majors to 17-18 with one game remaining on their schedule.

Welland won the season series with London, its first-round opponent, three games to two and head-to-head play was the first tiebreaker.

In league play, the Jackfish were 1-1 against the Majors at Welland Stadium and 2-1 when action shifted to Labatt Park in London. The Jackfish outscored the Majors 41-23 in head-to-head play during the regular season.

The best-of-seven quarterfinal gets underway with a 7:30 p.m. first pitch Tuesday at Welland Stadium.

DeAndre Asbury-Heath, 3for-3, two runs scored; Grant Okawa, 3-for-4, two runs batted in, one run; and Vaughn Bryan, 2-for-5, two runs; paced Welland at the plate Friday night in Hamilton.

Jackfish starter Matthew Clingersmith earned the victory and finished the season with a 6-1 record. He allowed two runs on eight hits and struck out seven over seven innings.

Chris Boatto, two runs, one earned, on two hits in one inning; and Casey Brouillere-Howard, two runs, both earned, on two hits, one inning; shared mound duties the rest of the way for Welland.

Niagara Region became home to an IBL team for the first time since 1989 when the Burlington Herd received unanimous approval during the off-season to relocate to Welland.

Before the latest move, the best finish for the franchise was a 17-19 record in 2010 in its second and last season as the Mississauga Twins before going to Burlington.

The last IBL team in the the region, the Niagara Falls Mariners, played home games at Oakes Park from 1985 to 1989.