Maple Leafs double up on Jackfish

Welland suffers third straight loss

By Rod Mawhood

Chris Boatto and the Welland Jackfish shutout the Toronto Maple Leafs for eight innings Saturday night. The problem - the Maple Leafs scored four runs in the second inning, and held on for a 4-2 victory in the first half of a home and home, back to back series. 

The same two teams meet Sunday afternoon at Christie Pits in Toronto.  Despite allowing four runs in the second inning, Boatto pitched a complete game allowing just five hits while throwing 136 pitches. 

"Boatto was a bulldog today. He deserved better," said Welland Manager Brian Essery, who went on to apologize to the Jackfish faithful.  "We weren't prepared to play today, and I apologize to our fans for that.

We're not executing with runners on. We had runners on second and third, with no outs, and couldn't score. That's not acceptable."

Despite the loss, its third straight, Welland (12-5) still holds down first place in the eight-team Intercounty Baseball League standings. 

Brandon Nicholson led the Jackfish at the dish going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Matteo Porcellato had the other RBI for the home side who scored both of their runs in the bottom half of the second inning. 

Rich Corrente gets the start for Welland on Sunday to close out the home and home series.