Hamilton pushed to Game 5 after blow-out win by Guelph Royals

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Published September 1, 2022 at 9:46 am

It all comes down to Game Five tomorrow night between the Hamilton Cardinals and the Guelph Royals in Intercounty Baseball League playoff action. (Photo: Art Ward)

When the Hamilton Cardinals were up 2-0 in games in their best-of-five series against the powerhouse Guelph Royals, it looked like a Cinderella story was about to come true.

Now it looks like the Royals have decided that the clock struck midnight.

Following Guelph’s 16-8 win in Game Three to push the Intercounty Baseball League playoff to 2-1, the Royals bats exploded in Game Four for a punishing 18-3 win to even the series at two and force Game Five in Guelph on Friday (September 2).

If the Cardinals come up big and win Game 5, they’ll play the first-place London Majors. Should the Royals win, they’re up against the Welland Jackfish, a team that finished with an identical 31-11 record in the regular season.

But in last night’s game, it was a Royal Flush as former Toronto Blue Jays Dalton Pompey blasted a homer early on to get the party started. Pompey went four-for-five at bat for the night while teammate Sean Reilly homered twice in his four-hit game.

Royals hurler Andrew Case went five innings for the win, giving up three runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Cardinal pitcher Ryan Burnside took the loss, giving up six runs on seven hits and a walk before being lifted with one out in the fifth.

The winner-take-all Game 5 started at 7:30 pm at David E. Hastings Stadium in Guelph.

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