Jackfish close out home portion of regular season schedule with victory

Win moves Welland into a three-way tie for first place 

By Rod Mawhood

The Welland Jackfish closed out the home portion of their regular season schedule in impressive fashion, battering the Barrie Baycats 14-2.

The Jackfish scored six runs in the first-inning highlighted by a Justin Gideon two-run inside the park homerun.

"I haven't seen an inside the park homerun since little league," said Welland Manager Brian Essery who went on to explain how key the start was for his club. "The first inning was huge. Garces (Barrie starting pitcher) shut us down last week in Barrie so it was nice to get to him tonight."

Mattingly Romanin, James Smibert and Tyler Dupuis paced the Jackfish with three hits apiece, while Dupuis drove in a game-high four runs. 

Rich Corrente was solid, picking up the win. The Welland starter threw six shutout innings of five-hit baseball. 

"Corrente looked great. Perfect for him heading into the playoffs," added Essery. 

Deivy Mendez had another 1-2-3 ninth inning to bring 1,597 fans to their feet on fan appreciation night at The Pond.

The Jackfish close out their regular season schedule Sunday afternoon in Hamilton. 

As of now, Welland opens its playoff run Thursday night at home against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

First pitch flies at 7:30 pm. For more information, and get to your playoff tickets visit: wellandjackfish.com