Things couldn’t get much tighter at the top of the Intercounty Baseball League standings.

Ryan Spataro homered, had two hits, scored three runs and drove in four more as the Barrie Baycats squandered a big early lead but held on for an 8-6 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night in Barrie, as the IBL regular season winds down.

The win moved Barrie (19-10) into a tie for second place with Toronto (20-11), with both teams just a half-game behind the first place Brantford Red Sox (18-8) with just 10 days to go in the regular season.

The Leafs are in Mississauga Saturday and host the Red Sox Sunday at 2 p.m. at Dominico Field at Christie Pits.

Barrie scored five runs in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead and held an 8-1 advantage after four innings. The Leafs battled back with four runs in the sixth inning and eventually got to within two runs before falling short.

“We beat these guys here on Tuesday, but when you play three games in three nights it's tough,” Leaf owner Jack Dominico said. “Now we have three games left with Brantford and those games will pretty much decide who is going to finish first.”

Dave Latour had two hits, scored a run and drove in a pair for the Baycats, who had 11 hits. Jordan Lundberg added a pair of hits and an RBI, as Barrie survived a determined Leaf comeback bid by using five pitchers.

Baycats starter Brad Bissell went 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks to pick up the win. Kyle Payne pitched out a ninth inning jam and picked up the save.

Toronto starter Matt Walker was clubbed for eight runs on nine hits in four innings, striking out three and walking three. Relievers Mark Sikorski and Jon Lockwood kept the Leafs in the game by both pitching two shutout innings, and both allowing just one hit.

Raul Bojas had three hits, including a homer, scored twice and drove in a run for the Leafs. Dan Gibbons homered, had two hits and an RBI and Rob Gillis also had two hits and an RBI for the Leafs. Brian Ivan also had two hits and Kern Watts drove in a pair of runs in the loss.