Bottom of Jackfish lineup comes up big

WELLAND – The bottom of the Welland Jackfish lineup did most of the damage in Thursday’s 19-5 home win over Brantford.

Matteo Porcellato, the No. 7 hitter, and Matt Hilderbrandt, who bats eighth, each hit home runs and combined to drive in 11. Porcellato had four hits and six RBI while scoring five times, while Hilderbrandt added five RBI on four hits and scored once.

Sam Cawker went 4-for-5 with three doubles, two RBI and three runs, James Smibert singled twice and had two RBI and two runs, Brandon Nicholson tripled, singled and scored twice while driving in a run, Ethan Hunt scored three times and Gianfranco Morello added an RBI and two runs. Welland also stole nine bases, with Morello, Cawker and Porcellato all swiping two apiece.

Jake Harford (5-0) pitched Welland to the win, going five innings and allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Andre Wojtarowicz fell to 0-1 after yielding nine runs (six earned) on seven hits over two innings. He walked four and fanned one.

Nick Burdett went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs. Jon Dziomba and Spencer Jamieson each had two hits and an RBI, while Liam Sutherland went 2-for-4 with a run.

Welland improved to 10-2, and Brantford fell to 0-11.