Jackfish advances to final

WELLAND – And then there were two.  

Welland punched its ticket to the Dominico Cup final against Barrie after an 8-1 win over Guelph in Game 5 of its semifinal on Thursday night.  

Gianfranco Morello, Robert Mullen, Jake Sanford and Brendan Luther all had two hits and an RBI, and Brandon Hupe hit a two-run double in the sixth inning. Welland, the top seed, scored three more times in the frame to pull away. Matteo Porcellato added an RBI single.  

On the mound, Teodoro Ortega (3-0) went five innings for the win. He allowed Liam Wilson’s RBI double four batters into the game but settled down to retire the next 13 batters he faced while striking out four. Euclides Leyer worked around a hit and two walks to earn the four-inning save. He also fanned four. 

Conner Morro doubled and scored for the sixth-place Royals, who swept London in the first round.  

Jacob Kush (2-1) took the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits in 4.1 innings. He walked one and struck out two. 

The championship series starts Sunday in Welland.