Royals double Cards to stay alive

Photo by Gar FitzGerald

GUELPH – The Guelph Royals built a 12-1 lead and rolled to a 16-8 win over Hamilton to keep their season alive Tuesday night at David E. Hastings Stadium.

Hamilton leads the best-of-five series 2-1 and has another chance to upset the No. 2 seed Wednesday at home.

Josh Garton homered twice and drove in four to lead the Royals. Sean Reilly went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, Ashton Patterson homered and scored twice, Dalton Pompey had four hits, including a solo blast, and four runs, Conner Morro hit a two-run home run and J.D. Williams added an RBI double in a four-run eighth as the Royals pulled away.

Claudio Custodio (1-0) allowed an unearned run over six innings on the mound. He scattered three hits, walked two and struck out 11. At the plate, he drilled a two-run blast and finished with three RBI.

For Hamilton, Jeremie Veilleux went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Robin Fox-Pappas drove in a run on two hits and scored twice and Luis Jean had an RBI.

Michael Bonaccorso (0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and fanned two.