Mercado tames the Baycats 6-1

Photo By Gar Fitzgerald

At the end of a hot night,  most fittingly on the first day of summer  Nelson Mercado stood on the mound at David E. Hastings stadium one more time for some family photos. 

Mercado's stellar performance on the mound against the Barrie Baycats came just a week after a rough outing giving the Guelph Royals and the 19-year-old Brampton native a 6-1 home win over Barrie Tuesday night.

Mercado  (1-3)  took the ball in the top of the 2nd inning after Royals skipper Dino Roumel gave opener Darren Shred his first inning of work this season.   Shred struck out one and allowed a single in his inning. 

Roumel sent Mercado out to the bullpen prior to the game and told the youngster to match Shred pitch for pitch in the first so that was he was ready to deliver in the top of the 2nd inning.    And boy, did he ever.
Mercado allowed a single run on five hits, walking two while striking out six over his eight innings of work. 

The Baycats struck for their lone run in the 4th inning on an RBI single by Ryan Rijo which plated Noel McGarry-Doyle.

The Royals rallied to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the frame on a Sac Fly by Ethan Hammond which drove home Malik Collymore who doubled to start the inning.

Noah Roberts (2 for 3) took over from there at the plate with a pair of home runs and a three-RBI night.
Justin Interisano had two hits, two RBI, and scored a run.

Evan Soules (1-1) took the loss for the Baycats (9-7), allowing three runs on four hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out one.

With the victory, the Royals (7-7) snapped their three-game losing skid.  They play a make-up game Thursday night in Welland against the league-leading Jackfish at 7:30 pm.  The Royals then travel to Brantford Friday night at 8 pm  before hosting the Hamilton Cardinals Saturday night at 7:30 pm

Tickets are available for all Royals' home games online or at the gate on gamedays.