The London Majors won their Canadian Baseball League playoff opener in dramatic fashion Friday. Ryder Hancock raced home from second base to score the game winning run on Jarrett Burney’s single in the 11th inning at Labatt Park to give London a 6-5 win over Welland. “I’m feeling awesome, that was the way to get back on track right there,” Burney told London Majors TV after the game. “We came in with a little skid (four straight losses), but we knew that the playoffs is a reset. We just had to get back out there, get a win and get the train rolling again.” Burney says he lost his grandmother the day before, so the game winning hit was emotional one for the Majors star. Luis Perez (1-0) struck out one in a scoreless inning to get the win in relief. London will travel to Welland for game two Saturday at 7:05 p.m before returning home to London for game three Sunday at 6:05 p.m. Victora Royals beat London Knights in ‘Clash of the Kingdoms’ Game one of a two-game exhibition series between the London Knights and Victoria Royals in Victoria, B.C. went to the hosts. The Western Hockey League team jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 49 minutes, before London’s Thomas Zocco finally got the Knights on the board late in the third period. The final score was 7-1, and then Knight Ryan Brown added a goal in a 3-on-3 overtime period, which was included in the game. Cameron Schmidt – who led the WHL in goals last season – scored three times for the Royals. “It was not a normal exhibition game obviously, having a team like them (London) here,” said Royals head coach James Patrick after the game. “It felt a little more intense, it was physical. I think our goalie masked the score as at the end of the night it was 7-1, and it feels a lot better to win than not, but I thought Vladdy (Vladimir Proskurin) was really good.” The two teams will play again Saturday at 7:05 p.m. before London will catch a red-eye flight home. The game will be streamed free on Youtube.
