Majors’ first playoff test: Kitchener in the quarters

Around the Diamond: Wins against top teams have Majors riding momentum heading into playoffs. First up: A tough test against No. 2 Kitchener. Can London pull off the upset? Our first-round IBL playoff preview …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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For two weeks, at least, the London Majors have been focused not on the scoreboard or the standings – or on anything other than just playing good baseball. They’ve been focused on putting together good at-bats, executing on defense, and pitching well enough to give the team a chance to win games.

Zeroing in on the basics – and on the things they can control – led to a strong finish to the regular season and has them heading into the playoffs Thursday with some momentum on the heels of winning four in a row, including contests against the first- and third-place teams in the league.

Now, it’ll be the second-place team, the Kitchener Panthers, they’ll square off against, in a best-of-five first-round playoff series that will begin Thursday and potentially run through next Wednesday. It’s no small task for the Majors, the two-time defending IBL champs who finished with just a 17-25 record during this year’s regular season. But they believe they’re up to the challenge.

“They’re a top end team with all-stars at almost every position, so they’re going to be a tough team to knock out. But we’re still going in thinking we can win. We believe we can beat them,” said Majors manager Roop Chanderdat. “We’re hoping it’s a good series and that we can extend it and eventually win it.”

Wins against top opponents during the final week of the regular season has certainly buoyed the Majors’ confidence, and they’ve shown throughout the season – despite their spot in the standings – that they can beat the best. Can they do it in a best-of-five series? …

1) Panther preview. Down the stretch, it was Kitchener who won the battle for second place over the Barrie Baycats. The Panthers finished with a 26-15 record, 4.5 games back of Welland for top spot. They actually won the head-to-head series against the Jackfish, taking four of six games. They did the same against Barrie – and the same against London.

The Panthers can hit. Yes, they play their home games at the very hitter friendly Jack Couch Park, but their lineup is legitimate. Their .303 team batting average was second in the league, and they led all teams in home runs (63), total bases, slugging percentage and OPS.

A good deal of the damage is done by the trio of Raul Gonzalez (.378), Andy Leader (.368) and Blake Jacklin (.361), who finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the IBL’s batting leaders during the regular campaign.

But they can pitch, too. Besides a strong bullpen, especially at the back end, Kitchener boasts a pair of talented Cuban starters, Yamichel Perez and Yadian Martinez.

“You got three or four good starting pitchers and a very good bullpen,” said Chanderdat. “So, they got great pitching. And then their offense is something special. They have a combination of power and speed, and they put up a lot of runs. It’s not going to come easy, but we’re going in confident and we’re ready to play.”

The Majors themselves put up a lot of runs – in Kitchener – in the fifth matchup between the two teams this season. That was the historic home run contest back on July 30 when London hit a combined eight in an 18-6 win at Jack Couch Park – and Majors catcher Eduardo de Oleo hit four himself, which is thought to be a franchise first.

2) Tale of the tape. How do the two teams match up? On paper, the Majors are an underdog – if not a significant one. They lost four of six against Kitchener during the regular season and finished 9.5 games behind the Panthers in the standings. Here’s a statistical breakdown … 

Pitching: 

Team ERA: Kitchener 5.41 / London 6.61
Strikeout-Walk ratio: Kitchener 351:140 (2.51) / London 364:206 (1.77)
Opponent batting average: Kitchener .284 / London .302

Note: London’s Owen Boon led the IBL in strikeouts with 104 (the Panthers’ Perez was sixth with 71). Boon’s 3.47 ERA was fourth in the league (Kitchener’s Christian Hauck was third at 3.29). 

Hitting:

Team batting average: Kitchener .303 / London .277
Runs scored: Kitchener 333 / London 286
Home runs: Kitchener 63 / London 50 

SEASON SERIES: London vs. Kitchener (Panthers win 4-2) 

Kitchener 9 @ London 2 (June 9)
London 5 @ Kitchener 11 (June 22)
Kitchener 1 @ London 2 (July 7)
London 8 @ Kitchener 12 (July 23)
London 18 @ Kitchener 6 (July 30)
Kitchener 6 @ London 2 (Aug. 11)

And now … 

IBL Playoffs First Round: London Majors (No. 7) vs. Kitchener Panthers (No. 2) (best-of-five series)

Game 1: Thurs. Aug. 24 (7:30pm @ Jack Couch Park)
Game 2: Fri. Aug. 25 (7:35pm at Labatt Park)
Game 3: Sun. Aug. 27 (2:00pm @ Jack Couch Park)
Game 4: Tues. Aug. 29 (7:35pm at Labatt Park) (if necessary)
Game 5: Wed. Aug. 30 (7:30pm @ Jack Couch Park) (if necessary)

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3) A different perspective. Two years in a row the London Majors finished tops in the league – and thus, as the No. 1 seed, got to face No. 8 in the first round. It’s a different scenario this year, with the club looking up rather than down the standings. But it’s not changing the team’s approach heading into the playoffs.

“There’s really no difference. You gotta beat everyone to get to the Finals anyway,” said Chanderdat. “This year, as a lower seed, we’re obviously starting off with a higher-seeded team, but we’re going in with the same attitude. The regular season is done and the slate is clear. Everyone is 0-0 when the playoffs start.”

If the Majors can bounce the Panthers from the postseason in the first round, they’ll almost certainly get Welland in the semi-finals. The 2023 pennant-winning Jackfish face No. 8 Brantford in their first-round matchup.

Meanwhile, No. 3 Barrie plays No. 6 Hamilton, and No. 4 Toronto plays No. 5 Guelph. Each series gets underway Thursday night (Aug. 24). Upsets? They certainly happen in the IBL. Both Welland and Guelph – the other two teams that finished in a three-way tie with London last season (London beat Guelph in a tie-breaker for the pennant) – were upset in last year’s playoffs. London is hoping to add Kitchener to the upset list this week.

4) Boon & Co. London’s ace, Owen Boon, draws the Game 1 start Thursday in Kitchener. That’s the only guarantee, from a pitching standpoint, for Chanderdat and the Majors. Normally, the next two starters up would be Wilbur Martinez and Jordan Schulefand, who have held that role since the player signing deadline.

But the playoffs are a different beast. Often, it’s win today and then worry about tomorrow. In other words, if need be, Martinez could come out of the bullpen in a game (it’s something he did twice in the final week). A wild card in the Kitchener series could be Pedro De Los Santos, who seemingly emerged from the cornfield (a la Field of Dreams) to deliver his best outing of the season.

Against the Jackfish, De Los Santos allowed four runs over six innings while racking up eight strikeouts. It was his first win of the year – and his first appearance in nearly a month.

“He pitched phenomenal,” said Chanderdat. “He was on. He was the Pedro of old.”

During their four-game win streak to wrap up the regular season, the Majors also received a pair of excellent outings from key relievers – Skylar Janisse and Braeden Ferrington. In an extra-inning comeback win in Brantford last Sunday, Janisse tossed 4 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out five.

And Ferrington? After allowing three earned runs while recording just one out in that same Brantford contest, he regrouped to turn in by far his best outing of the year on Tuesday in a 3-2 win over Guelph in the regular season finale. The right-hander relieved Robert Mackie and proceeded to throw seven innings of two-run baseball with one walk and eight strikeouts. The surprise 95-pitch outing lasted four innings more than his previous longest appearance of the season.

Will the Majors have more surprises in store for the playoffs? Action gets underway Thursday. The postseason will be a different animal for London in 2023, but they’ll try everything they can to overcome the odds and battle their way to a third straight IBL title.