No ‘panicking’ as Panthers face elimination
Kitchener, down 3-2 in IBL final, must win Game 6 to sustain championship hopes
KITCHENER — The Kitchener Panthers will play one last game at Jack Couch Park Thursday night — and it will be the biggest one they’ve played all season.
The Panthers, down 3-2 in the best-of-seven Intercounty Baseball League championship, need to win at home if they want to stay alive against the Barrie Baycats.
A win sends the series back to Barrie for Game 7 on Saturday night, and gives Kitchener a chance to end their 17-year championship drought.
A loss gives Barrie their fifth consecutive title.
The Panthers have shown an ability to pull off wins when the odds looked slim.
Their two wins in this series came in extra innings, in come-from-behind fashion.
Tanner Nivins, the Panthers centrefielder, said his team hasn’t gotten this far by letting nerves get to them. And they don’t plan on starting now.
“I think that’s why we’ve been successful is because we aren’t panicking. We aren’t pressing. We know it’s going to come and we trust each other,” he said..
Other than Barrie’s 7-1 win on Tuesday night, every game between the two clubs has been a battle that could have turned on a single hit one way or the other.
“Every single pitch, you’re locked in. That’s rare in a league where you work all day and then show up to play,” Nivins said.
Panthers reliever Mike Schnurr called Games 1 to 4 of the series “the four most intense baseball games I’ve ever played,” and that includes playing in the NCAA Division II College World Series with the Mercyhurst Lakers. I’d say in years past, we were probably a little bit intimidated looking across at those guys. But this group of guys, they don’t seem to care.”
Panthers manager Luke Baker has worked hard to build a balanced lineup in which someone different is stepping up every night.
He’s also tried to keep the team loose, relaxed and positive — an approach it will need with the season on the line Thursday.
“I have faith in all the guys, and I know they have faith in themselves,” Baker said, before Tuesday’s game.
“If I had to pick an MVP, I’d pick the whole friggin’ team. Every puzzle piece is helping to build that bigger picture. I love that.”
Since 2013, every IBL final has been decided in five or fewer games. That this series has been more evenly matched is a testament to the quality of the pitching and defence on both sides.
“It’s been the best final in over a decade, and I think Barrie feels the same way,” said Mike Boehmer, the team’s general manager.
On Thursday, the Panthers will hand the ball to starting pitcher Christian Hauck. The young right-hander looked good in his last outing in the series, holding Barrie to two runs and four hits over six innings in Game 3. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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