Kitchener Panthers advance after sweeping Brantford

The 100th season for the Kitchener Panthers will go on for at least another IBL playoff round.

They took care of the Brantford Red Sox with a three-game sweep, capped off by a 5-2 win Sunday afternoon at Jack Couch Park.

“It was real nice.  (We) came out, never once thinking we’re going to sweep,” Panthers Manager Luke Baker said of the win, “Just coming out, trying to win every inning and play a good game and play solid defense, hope the pitchers stick to their game plans and same with the hitters and we did a really good job.”

“We capitalized on every little chance that we could and yeah, literally just pushing the envelope as much as we can at this level and I’m hoping that we can continue that and obviously keep improving as we go.”

The Panthers got on the board early, but it was still a one-run game until the seventh inning when Keegan Marsden launched a three-run home run over the right centre field fence.

“He really got a hold of that, and it was nice,” Baker said, “Again, we haven’t been overly dominant with the big home runs and that, but timely hits is what we’ve been doing and it’s been really nice and that was huge.  Two guys on, he took that fastball and drove it and that opened it up so we could breathe a little easier.”

But he wasn’t ready to celebrate yet, knowing Jack Couch Park is quite friendly to hitters.

However, Brantford could only muster up another run late to round out the scoring.

Some throwing errors on defense by the Red Sox didn’t help their case — a pair of wild throws allowed Kitchener's Colin Gordner to steal 2nd, 3rd and home on the same play in the third inning — and the frustration boiled over with Brantford catcher Ricky Murray getting ejected arguing a balk call late in the game.

Playoff baseball.

And the playoffs will continue for the Panthers, but their opponent has yet to be determined.

Toronto and Guelph continue their series Tuesday and if necessary, Wednesday.

The winner of that series will play the Panthers, while Hamilton meets Barrie in the other semi-final.

Baker says it doesn’t matter who they face.

“It really doesn’t matter, we’ve gotta play good ball,” he said.

While there is no set schedule or opponent in place yet, it’s expected Round 2 will begin in Kitchener later this week in a best-of-seven.

GAME NOTES

-Christian Hauck pitched six innings in the win for the Panthers, giving up four hits and one earned run while walking three and striking out five on 112 pitches

-Matt Martinow pitched six innings for the loss, giving up seven hits, four earned runs while walking two and no strikeouts on 72 pitches

-Eight out of nine Panthers got at least a hit

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version noted that Kitchener was to play Hamilton in Round 2.