Barnstormers walk off Panthers

CHATHAM - The Chatham-Kent Barnstormers edged out the Kitchener Panthers 8-7 in a back-and-forth battle Saturday night at Fergie Jenkins Field.
A late run in the bottom of the ninth sealed the win for the Barnstormers, improving their record to 12-7 in Intercounty Baseball League action.
Trailing 7-6 in the eighth, Chatham-Kent tied the game in the bottom half. In the ninth, Lee Kucera’s single scored Spencer Morin for the walk-off win.
Mitsuki Fukuda reached base five times with two hits and three walks, while Evan Morrison chipped in with a pair of hits and three stolen bases for the Barnstormers.
Eric Pettipiece earned the win in relief, tossing the final two innings and allowing just one run on two hits while striking out three.
For Kitchener, Yosvani Penalver led the offense with two home runs and two RBI, while Charlie Towers also went deep and drove in a run as part of a three-hit night. Kitchener starter Evan Elliott struck out seven over six innings but was tagged for four runs on seven hits.
The loss drops the Panthers to 6-13 on the season and visit the Brantford Red Sox Sunday at 2pm. The Barnstormers improve to 12-7 and host the Guelph Royals at 2:05pm Sunday.