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TORONTO SLIPS PAST CARDINALS

After having their last four games washed out by rain the Hamilton Cardinals hit the field on Wednesday night in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs at Christie Pits for their second game of the season. Nate Mastervick and Slater Frith each had a pair of hits for Hamilton but it was Chris Beer who would get the biggest hit of the game, a solo home run. On this night though the Maple Leafs would score five times to edge out Hamilton 5-2.

Toronto opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when former Cardinals John Solazzo and Tyler Hardie each hit RBI sacrifice flies to put the Cardinals down by two early in the game. The Cardinals had their chances in their first three innings but left five runners on base.

Hamilton cut the lead in half in the fourth on Beer’s home run to lead off the inning. However, Daniel Szpik got that run back for Toronto with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth. The Leafs then added to their lead when Jon Waltenbury hit a two-out RBI single to take a 4-1 lead.

Mastervick would lead off the fifth with a single, his second hit of the game, and later scored on Jake Foden’s single to cut the Toronto lead in half once again. Toronto would go on to add one more run in the eighth on a bases loaded walk to take the game 5-2.

David Ertl made his debut on the mound for the Cardinals, taking the loss. He would go two innings, allowing two runs on three walks and two hit batters. Benson Merritt would relieve Ertl to start the third and went four innings on the mound allowing two runs on five hits, while walking one batter and striking out two. Kyle Adoranti and Jake Foden each pitched an inning, combining to allow one run, walking four batters and striking out two.

For Toronto, Marek Deska picked up the win going five innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two batters and striking out six. Andrew Simonetti pitched the next three innings allowing a hit, a walk and striking out four. Andrew Mercer finished off the game striking off two batters for the save.

Hamilton will start a busy weekend of four games in three days on Friday night when they host the Kitchener Panthers at Bernie Arbour Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 PM.

Winning Pitcher: Marek Deska (1-1)
Losing Pitcher: David Ertl (0-1)
Save: Andrew Mercer (1)

Toronto Hitters
Jonathan Solazzo – 2 for 3 (Single, Double, Sacrifice Fly, RBI)
Daniel Szpik – 1 for 2 (Solo Home Run, 2 Walks, Stolen Base, Run, RBI)
Jon Waltenbury – 1 for 3 (Single, Walk, Hit by Pitch, Run, 2 RBIs)

Hamilton Hitters
Nate Mastervick – 2 for 4 (Single, Double, Walk, Reached on Error, Strikeout, Stolen Base, Run)
Slater Frith – 2 for 4 (2 Singles, Strikeout, Stolen Base)
Chris Beer – 1 for 3 (Solo Home Run, Walk, Strikeout, Run, RBI)

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2017 season tickets are now available and can be ordered by emailing the team at IBLCardinals@gmail.com. Tickets for all Hamilton Cardinals home games are available at the Bernie Arbour Stadium Box Office on game day.

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