Panthers capture Canada Day victory with offensive onslaught
Posted Jul 2, 2026 06:38:14 AM.
Last Updated Jul 2, 2026 12:29:44 PM.
The Canadian Baseball League scheduled a variety of rivalry matchups to fill their 2026 Canada Day slate, and the Guelph Royals travelling to Kitchener to take on the Panthers was perhaps the most important of the bunch.
The Kitchener Panthers entered the July 1 contest in their worst form of the season, having won just 2 games out of their last 13. Hosting the Canada Day game provided no relief on paper, as the Panthers’ 3-8 home record was the lowest mark in the league. On the other side, the Guelph Royals were very effective on the road in the month of June after their titanic turnaround from the bottom of the CBL to a 12-7 record and the 4th seed. They entered Wednesday with a chance to take the 3rd seed, their highest ranking in multiple years.
On the mound for Guelph, lefty hurler Liam Watt took the mound for his 4th start of the season. He shut down the Kitchener bats for 7 innings a week prior, throwing 7 strikeouts, allowing two hits, one walk, and no runs in a 6-3 Guelph win on the road. His opponent would be Evan Elliott, the 25-year-old right-hander who started strong but ran into some trouble in his matchup vs. Guelph the week prior.
Elliott has served as Kitchener’s workhorse starter in 2026, entering Wednesday with 36.2 innings pitched, the 3rd-highest rank in the CBL.
As they did the week prior, Guelph would open the scoring off the red-hot bat of Matthew Ward. In the top of the 2nd, J.D Williams and Deivis Nadal would each score on a full-count line drive into left field from Ward to make it 2-0 Guelph.
Kitchener would not wait long to respond, as Malik Williams would tattoo a ball high over the right field fence to cut the early lead in half to 2-1. The solo home run was the 6th of the year for the former CBL all-star.
Guelph would respond with a home run of their own in the top of the 3rd, as Miguel Hiraldo would pull a ball over the left field fence to open the Royals’ lead back up to two runs.
But it was Malik Williams who swung the pendulum back the Panthers’ way in the bottom of the 4th. Yosvani Penalver would score on Williams’ second hit of the day from 3rd base, just moments after advancing all the way from 1st on back-to-back stolen bases. Yosuke Fujie would single Williams home later in the inning, and Liam Watt would plunk Mateo Zeppieri with a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead after the 4th in front of the Canada Day home crowd.
If the Kitchener fans in attendance thought the game would remain back-and-forth, they were sorely mistaken. With a man on, Yosuke Fujie would crush a baseball over the fence to score himself and Yunior Ibarra. That would spell the end of the day for Liam Watt, who was pulled for Nelson Mercado after allowing 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings.
Mercado would not stop the Panthers’ momentum, as a Zane Skansi homer and a pair of Penalver and Kiefer singles would put the Panthers up a commanding 10-3. Then, moments later, Malik Williams would all but seal the game, as a fly ball to deep centre field would clear the fence. Williams 7th home run of the season would be a 3-run shot that would give the Panthers a 13-3 lead.
The Royals would add a few consolation runs, but the reliable reliever Jacob Liberta would finish it off in the bottom of the 9th to give the Panthers the 14-7 win at home on Canada Day.
Elliott would be awarded his 3rd win of the season to move to a 3-3 record, with Liam Watt being designated the loss to move to 2-1 on the season.
The win would move the Panthers to an 8-14 record on the season, powering them past the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers who lost in Brantford. Kitchener now sit 7th in the CBL, just a half game back of the Brantford Red Sox who they face in a home-and-home contest on Friday, July 3 and 4.
Get tickets to that and any other Kitchener Panthers home contests on their website.
