Royals, Jackfish going the distance

GUELPH – Welland and Guelph are going the distance.

The Jackfish kept its season alive and forced a deciding Game 5 with a 9-7 win Monday at David E. Hastings Stadium.

Tyler Dupuis went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs for Welland. Gianfranco Morello and Steven Moretto each drove in two, Robert Mullen hit a solo home run and Jonah Weisner singled twice and scored twice.

Brandon Marklund (1-0) earned the win in relief. He struck out one of the five batters he faced. Deivy Mendez picked up the save, allowing two runs on two hits in two innings. He walked six and struck out four. Starting pitcher Ben Abram went 5.1 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Josh Garton singled and hit a solo home run for the Royals, who will need to win Thursday in Welland for the third time this series in order to advance. Carson Burns, Ashton Patterson, Ethan Hammond, J.D. Williams and Garrett Takamatsu drove in the other runs.

Rhys Montgomery was tagged with the loss after giving up an unearned run on one hit and two walks in 4.1 innings of relief. He also struck out two. Hector Yan started and went three innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts.