Jackfish looking to rebound from loss
Game 5 in playoff series is Tuesday in Welland
No one said it was going to be easy.
The London Majors avoided being swept from the Intercounty Baseball League playoffs by the Welland Jackfish with an 11-6 victory in Game 4 Sunday afternoon at Labatt Park in London.
Manager Brian Essery took the loss in stride.
“Things just didn’t go our way,” Essery said. “We hit the ball well. We struggled on the mound. It was just one of those games. We are happy with a 3-1 lead. We will take it.”
The Jackfish finished the regular season 19-17 and neck-and-neck with the Majors at 18-18.
The Jackfish built their playoff lead with 6-3, 11-3 and 6-3 wins over the Majors.
Essery will turn to six-foot-six pitcher Matt Clingersmith to try and close out the series today at Welland Stadium (first pitch at 7:30 p.m.) Clingersmith finished the season with a 6-1 record and only gave up 44 hits in 55.1 innings. He struck out 37 and walked 13.
Clingersmith picked up the win in Welland’s 11-3 victory over London Thursday allowing three runs on three hits in eight innings of work with three strikeouts and a walk.
“He gives us a chance to win every time he is on the mound,” Essery said. “He has really good command. He attacked hitters. He changes speeds really well. He is a bulldog. He just battles and battles. He won’t give in.
“He forces the other team to hit his pitches and puts the ball in play. He is always around the strike zone.”
Centrefielder DeAndre Heath-Asbury has raised his game in the playoffs, a trend that started in the final weeks of the regular season when he finished with a .271 average along with six doubles and four home runs and 21 RBI in 36 games. In four playoff games, he is hitting .429 and has scored six runs.
His play in the field is what sets him apart, Essery said.
“There isn’t any question that he is the best centrefielder in the league,” Essery said. “He tracks balls like nobody else. That’s a huge confidence boost for our pitchers. They have a guy out there that is going to make every play.
“We really are sound defensively as a team. We don’t make many mistakes.”
Fellow outfielder Vaughn Bryan has supplied the power in the playoffs with two homers in four. He joined the Jackfish in June. In 2018, he was an IBL First Team All-Star with Burlington.
“Vaughn Bryan has stepped up and been huge in the playoffs so far,” Essery said.
“The one he hit in Game 3 was absolutely massive and put us in the lead at 4-3.”
Before joining the Herd last season, Bryan suited up for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Independent American Association. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 35th round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft and reached double-A.
The power supplied by Bryan is a welcome addition for a team that has relied on speed and daring on the base-paths to generate offence.
Welland led the league in with 120 stolen bases in 36 games. Barrie and Brantford finished tied for second, 76 bases behind the Jackfish.
But the attack is more than just stealing bases. It’s taking the extra base or going first-to-third on singles.
“We are a high-risk team. We take a lot of chances. With that, comes some failure. We will run into some outs on the bases, but the runs we generate from the high-risk things outnumber the failures. That’s where we have had success all season.”