Written By Brian Lockhart

It was the seventh inning that cost the Mansfield Junior Cubs the win in their Thursday, July 4, game against the Innisfil Cardinals when the Cardinals tied the game and scored a winning run in their final at-bat. 

The Cubs were leading for most of the night.

Owen Van Delon started off on the mound for the mid-week game.

As games go, there was a lot of hitting and a lot of good defensive work by both teams.

The Cub opened the scoring with a single run in the first inning.

In the second, Tristan Park opened with a single to get a man on base.

The Cubs were up by two when Zac Piechocinski hit a double and drove in a run.

Innisfil failed to get a man on base in the third inning.

The Cubs were leading 3-0 in the third inning when Dylan Brown led off with a double and stole third base.

He was batted in when Ben Nicholson got an RBI.

The Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning after getting men on first and second and batting in two runs.

Mansfield went ahead 4-2 in the fourth after Owen Van Delon got on base and then scored when Cody Bryan hit a double.

The Cardinals closed the scoring gap with a single run in the sixth inning.

Mansfield's one-run lead evaporated in the seventh inning when the Innisfil team loaded the bases and then drove in a run to tie. They followed with another run to take a 5-4 lead.

The Cubs had one final chance, but couldn't score and had to settle for the 5-4 loss.

“They had some timely hits at the end,” summed up Cubs' player, Cole Campbell. “Overall I thought it was a pretty good game. Our bats were doing pretty good at the start. We had some runs in the early innings and shut them out. Then they bounced back. I think we played good, then the top of the seventh got to us.”

After the game, the Cubs are in third place in the Junior Division of the North Dufferin Baseball League with an 8-7-1 record.

They will be back on the diamond in Mansfield for their final regular season game on Thursday, July 11, when they will host the Orangeville Bengals.

Game time is 6:30 p.m.