Panthers turn to Ratcliffe in London
KITCHENER — The Kitchener Panthers handed the ball to former Toronto Blue Jays prospect Sean Ratcliffe on Tuesday night at Labatt Memorial Park, hoping to jump ahead 2-0 in their semifinal playoff series against the London Majors.
Ratcliffe, a 245-pound righthander, was looking to bounce back from a rough start back in Game 3 against Hamilton during Kitchener’s quarter-final series — a game he didn’t make it out of in the fourth inning and was tagged for nine runs.
The Panthers went up 1-0 in their series against the Majors on Sunday night thanks to another dominating pitching performance by Jasvir Rakkar, who threw his second straight complete-game shutout.
Rakkar, who’s now 3-0 in the Intercounty Baseball League playoffs, was coming off a nineinning gem against the Hamilton Cardinals in the first round. He allowed only three hits against London in Kitchener’s 5-0 win over the Majors at Jack Couch Park, while walking two and striking out eight.
The series returns to Kitchener Thursday night, when the Panthers will hand the ball to Matt McGovern, winner of two games in the first-round series.
Manager Dave te Boekhorst plans to start Rakkar again Saturday night in Game 4 in London.
Justin Interisano led the Panthers offense on Sunday against London, hitting a two-run home run to cap the Panthers’ four-run seventh.
Yorbis Borroto had two hits and two RBI, and Josh Garton singled twice to go with an RBI and a run.
Carlos Arteaga, Byron Reichstein and LeJon Baker had London’s lone hits.
The Majors’ Cory Hammond took the loss, allowing five runs (two earned) on nine hits over six-plus innings, walking five and striking out seven.
Meanwhile, the Brantford Red Sox will take on the Barrie Baycats in the IBL’s other semifinal, after stunning the Toronto Maple Leafs in their Game 7 comeback. That series also starts Tuesday.