Crunch time is officially beginning across the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) as the Kitchener Panthers get ready for their first taste of postseason action, heading to Welland to battle the Jackfish.
It’s a battle between the eighth-seeded Panthers, who finished with a 17-25 record on the year, against the pennant-winning Jackfish, finishing in first place with a 31-11 record.
The two teams have battled five times throughout the regular season, with Welland taking the series 3-2, where they outscored the Panthers 59-32.
On the bright side for Kitchener, the team wrapped up the regular season with a playoff preview against Welland, coming up with a close 11-10 win to take the last laugh.
The team has shown stretches of dominance throughout the year, scoring 10 or more runs six times throughout the regular season, including a blowout 20-5 victory over the Brantford Red Sox at the end of May.
However, the team has also given up 10 or more runs in 11 games throughout the season, including a 23-2 loss to the Jackfish in June, as well as an 18-0 shutout at the hands of the Barrie Baycats in July.
The team will rely on the bats of Yosvani Penalver and Yosuke Fuji, with Penalver sitting seventh in the league with a .359 batting average and Fuji wrapping up the season in seventh place for home runs, finishing with eight on the year.
It’s that exact category, home runs, that will be the difference maker for the Panthers if the team hopes to have a deep playoff push. Kitchener wrapped up the year leading the league in combined home runs with 56, 15 more than Welland at 41.
It’s not the only stat line that the team will have to lean into if they hope to topple the number one team in the IBL, with the pitching rotation being one of the more dominant groups when it comes to strikeouts.
The Panthers currently hold three of the top 10 spots in Ks, with Evan Elliot racking up 68, Yadian Martinez collecting 71, and Andy Vargas throwing out the third most across the league with 92.
Across the rest of the IBL, the London Majors get set to battle the Guelph Royals, the Hamilton Cardinals take on the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, and the Barrie Baycats face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Brantford Red Sox are the lone team not making the playoffs in 2025, after being eliminated weeks before the season came to a close with a 12-30 record.
First round of playoffs between Kitchener and Welland
- Game 1: Friday, Aug. 21 – Kitchener @ Welland, beginning at 7:15 p.m.
- Game 2: Saturday, Aug. 22 – Welland @ Kitchener, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
- Game 3: Sunday, Aug. 23 – Kitchener @ Welland, beginning at 6:05 p.m.
- Game 4: Tuesday, Aug. 26 – Welland @ Kitchener, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Wednesday, Aug. 27 – Kitchener @ Welland, beginning at 7:15 p.m.
Game one of the IBL postseason between the Kitchener Panthers and the Welland Jackfish kicks off in Welland at 7:15 p.m. Thursday evening, before the Panthers head back home to Jack Couch Park Friday for a game at 7:30 p.m.
The full list of details for the upcoming postseason can be found on the IBL website.
Tickets for the upcoming games at Jack Couch Park can be purchased on the team’s website.
