The Wes Brennan Orillia Junior Royals defeated the Creemore Padres 5-3 on Monday in Creemore. The Royals got out in front of the defending champs early and then hung on for the victory.
Wyatt Thompson strung together six scoreless innings and recorded seven strikeouts on the mound for the win and Max Rutherford recorded a strikeout of the final batter, with two men on base, for the save.
In the first inning, Jhett Winkel singled home Ben Barzo for the first run to help the visitors get off to a fast start.
The second inning saw the Royals explode as Barzo cashed in Kobe Geofroy and Max Rutherford with a single; he later scored with the RBI going to Owen Kaczanowski.
In the fourth inning, Teddy Mccollum Kuntz doubled home Jhett Winkel for the Royals' fifth run. The Royals surrendered three late runs, but held on for the 5-3 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five finals.
The Royals now host Creemore for Game 2 at the Gander Ross diamond (McKinnell Park) Wednesday (Aug. 9) at 8:30 pm.
Admission is free and local fans are urged to come out and watch the hometown team compete for the championship.
The Royals finished atop the regular season standings thanks to an impressive 14-2 record and received a first-round playoff bye.
In the second round, Orillia swept Innisfil to set up the championship finale against Creemore. Last year, Creemore defeated Orillia in the league championship series.
