Gameday in 5

A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (June 22-27) — for London’s teams and athletes.

FC London’s Women’s team lost for just the second time this year last Sunday, moving them into a tie for first place with Vaughan Azzurri — the very team that handed them their weekend loss. (Photo: League1 Ontario).

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London Majors

It was a busy week for the Majors, who won three of four to pull within a half-game of the Welland Jackfish for first place in the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) standings with a 12-5 record through 17 contests.

London opened the week Tuesday with a big 14-6 win over the Hamilton Cardinals. Making his first IBL start, Daniel Gore gave up 5 runs in the first inning. But after giving up an additional run in the second, the right-hander settled down and held the visitors scoreless over his next 3 innings. That allowed the Majors’ bats to get them back in the game, and they scored 5 runs of their own in the third inning, highlighted by a 3-run homer by Robert Mullen. London then broke the game open in the 5th, scoring 7 runs to cruise to the lopsided win.

The Majors offense was in high gear again Friday, as they beat the first-place Welland Jackfish 17-5 at Labatt Park. Starling Joseph got London off to a fast start, driving in a pair of runs in the opening innings. Owen Boon rebounded from his lone subpar start his last time out, striking out eight in seven innings en route to his fifth win of the season. Cleveland Brownlee went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs in the contest, while Joseph was 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and Gibson Krezminski went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs of his own.

After two strong offensive showings, the Majors were quieted on Saturday, as they lost 4-1 to the Barrie Baycats on the road. Pedro De Los Santos turned in his best outing of the season thus far, albeit in a losing effort. He allowed three runs (just one earned) on six hits in a season-high seven innings, striking out four on the day. The Majors’ bats mustered just four hits, and Cleveland Brownlee saw his 15-game hit streak come to an end (though he picked up an RBI).

After being shut down offensively on Saturday, London bounced back on Sunday with another big win over Hamilton — this time a 13-2 decision on the road. The Majors sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring six times. Jose Arias pitched perhaps his best game of the season, striking out 11 in 6 innings while allowing just two hits and a walk. Dan Perrier went 4-for-5 with his 6 RBIs and his first two IBL home runs.

Up next:

The Majors (12-5), who sit in second place in the IBL standings (a half-game behind Welland) entering action Tuesday, through, have another three-game slate on the schedule this weekend — including a Canada Day game at home Friday.

Fri. July 1 (6:00pm vs. Barrie Baycats)
Sat. July 2 (6:05pm @ Welland Jackfish)
Sun. July 3 (1:05pm vs. Brantford Red Sox)

FC London

Women’s team:

The Women suffered just their second loss of the season Sunday, as they dropped a close 1-0 decision against Vaughan Azzurri on the road. With the loss, FC London now shares first place in the standings with the very team they fell to Sunday. Both have 31 points, although Vaughan has a match in hand.

As expected, it was a close affair between the two top teams. After a scoreless first half, Vaughan scored the game’s only goal in the 69th minute, as Leah Pais found the back of the net. London fought hard to tie things up, but came up short.

Up next:

The women (10-2-1) have a two-game week ahead, with both matches coming on their home turf. They’ll do battle with Tecumseh SC (3-5-3) first, followed by North Mississauga SC (5-7-1) on the weekend.

Wed. June 29 (8:00pm vs. Tecumseh SC)
Sat. July 2 (7:00pm vs. North Mississauga SC)

Men’s team:

The Men’s team suffered a tough loss last week, losing 3-1 to the undefeated Vaughan Azzurri Sunday. Down 1-0 after 20 minutes, Kuhle Bekwayo tied the game for FC London in the 42nd minute. The teams remained tied into the 90th minute of play, where Vaughan scored two times in stoppage time to secure the win.

Up next:

The men (2-8-2) are back in action Saturday, again on the road, when they take on Darby FC (3-6-3).

Sat. July 2 (6:00pm @ Darby FC)