Majors back-to-back champs after wild comeback win

Trailing 7-3 in the ninth inning on the road, the London Majors came all the way back to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 8-7 Thursday night, claiming their second straight IBL championship title.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Trailing 7-3 in the ninth inning, and with a Game 7 all but guaranteed, the London Majors improbably – impossibly, almost – came all the way back and won the 2022 IBL championship Thursday night over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dormant for most of the game, the Majors’ bats, as they have so often this year, produced a big inning – this time, a last-minute five-run ninth to reverse their fortunes and win their second straight IBL title.

It was a Taylor Wright sacrifice fly that brought home the winner, but the wild comeback started seven batters before.

Facing Angel Castro, who’d baffled them for most of the game, striking out 13 in his first eight innings, the Majors sparked a rally in the ninth. Robert Mullen singled to get things started. Byron Reichstein followed with a home run, his third hit of the game. That made it 7-5 – with nobody out.

After a Starling Joseph single and an Austin Wilkie walk, Toronto pulled Castro (at 132 pitches) and brought in their closer, Franklin Hernandez.

With Gibson Krzeminski at the plate, the righty reliever uncorked a wild pitch to move Joseph and Wilkie up a base, and then threw another, with Joseph coming in to score London’s sixth run of the game. Krzeminski walked, and with Chris McQueen at the plate, another wild pitch brought home Wilkie to tie the game.

A Jakob Newton single put runners on first and third with one out, and Wright lofted a ball to left centre, deep enough to score Krzeminski with a sac fly and give the Majors their first lead of the game.

After Cleveland Brownlee struck out to end the inning, London’s bullpen was tasked with holding the lead. Bo Lewington returned to the mound after tossing two scoreless innings but walked the first batter he faced. That prompted Majors manager Roop Chanderdat to summon Fernando Fernandez, and the left-hander got the job done. He induced a ground ball for a 4-6-3 double play and then struck out Jose Vinicio looking to end the game – and empty London’s dugout to celebrate their second straight IBL title.

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IBL Playoffs - 2022 Finals: London Majors vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (London wins best-of-seven series 4-2)

Game 1: London 12 vs. Toronto 2 (Sept. 13 at Labatt Park)
Game 2: London 6 @ Toronto 9 (Sept. 15 at Christie Pits)
Game 3: London 6 vs. Toronto 3 (Sept. 16 at Labatt Park)
Game 4: London 1 vs. Toronto 2 (Sept. 18 at Christie Pits)
Game 5: London 8 vs. Toronto 3 (Sept. 20 at Labatt Park)
Game 6: London 8 @ Toronto 7 (Sept. 22 at Christie Pits)