Panthers shut down Barnstormers’ bats, move back above .500
Posted May 30, 2026 06:25:10 AM.
Last Updated Jun 1, 2026 12:18:28 PM.
It was high time to bounce back for the Canadian Baseball League’s Kitchener Panthers, as they travelled to Chatham-Kent to take on the Barnstormers on May 29.
Kitchener entered Friday with a 3-3 record, a total that had fallen since their hot start in the opening week, thanks to two close losses to the Barrie Baycats and London Majors. The Barnstormers, who would host the contest, were in a slump of their own, having gone winless since their season-opening domination of the Guelph Royals, 16-2.
Panthers’ righty Evan Elliott got the start, appearing in his fourth game of the season. The Barnstormers would answer with a righty pitcher of their own, with 23-year-old rookie Thibault Mercadier getting the start at home.
Both pitchers kept the scoreboard vacant through the first two innings, but some patience at the plate from Kitchener’s Mateo Zeppieri would open the scoring. After walking to open the game in the top of the first inning, Zeppieri once again took advantage of the count in the top of the third. Going up 2-2 on the at-bat’s fifth pitch, Zeppieri would crush the sixth over the centre field fence for his first bomb of the year, giving the road side a 1-0 lead.
An inning later in the top of the fourth, Rafael Gross bounced back from a second-inning strikeout with another blast to left field. His second home run in as many games would score him and Yosvani Penalver to open the lead to three.
After six innings of stellar shoving, including seven strikeouts to only two walks, Evan Elliott finally relented. Chatham-Kent’s Grayson Barrett would score off a single from Evan Morrison, thanks to Barrett advancing to third on a wild pitch in the prior at-bat. Elliott was able to force weak contact in the following at-bat to get out of the inning; his final ledger read six innings with only one earned run.
The 2024 all-star Aden Ryan would come in to pitch for the Barnstormers in the seventh inning, but he would get a rude awakening almost as soon as he entered. On just his second pitch, Josh Williams would pull a ball deep to right field to extend the Panthers’ lead to three once again. The former all-CBL slugger and former champion records his 8th career home run to open the inning, and Petey Kiefer would continue the momentum shortly after. Kiefer’s double into right field would score Zeppieri for his second time on the day, bringing the Panthers’ lead to 5-1.
Panthers rookie reliever Bawin Colon got the call from the bullpen in the eighth inning and would not disappoint. He allowed only one hit in the final two innings to finish off Kitchener’s bounce-back 5-1 victory.
Kitchener’s Evan Elliott would register his first win of the season in a dominant performance, while the Barnstormers’ Thibault Mercadier picked up his second loss of the season. The win brings the Panthers back above .500 with a 4-3 record, good for fifth in the league as of May 29. They now sit a game and a half ahead of Chatham-Kent behind, and now find themselves tied with the 3-2 defending champion Welland Jackfish.
The four-day streak of games for the Panthers has only just begun, as they’ll play their third consecutive game at Guelph’s Hastings Stadium on Saturday, May 30. They’ll finally cap their four straight days of baseball on May 31, when they host the Hamilton Cardinals at Kitchener’s Jack Couch Park.
First pitch in Guelph on Saturday goes at 2:00 p.m. as Kitchener looks to re-enter itself in the conversation atop the Canadian Baseball League.
