Barrie Martelle for Front Page Media

The Ottawa Fat Cats had an explosive home opener on Friday night as they shut-out the Kitchener Panthers 7-0.

A brawl broke out in the seventh inning ignited by a home plate collision between Fat Cats catcher Jason Coker and the Panthers base runner Ben Kangas. Their was a heated exchange of words and both benches emptied. A full scale fight ensued with punches thrown and some players wrestling on the ground. Two players from each team were ejected before order was restored.

Fat Cats infielder Jason Coker (27) and Kitchener Panthers catcher Ben Kangas (27) collide in the seventh inning in the season opener at the Ottawa Stadium on Saturday May 19th, 2012. The Fat Cats defeated the Panther by a score of 7-0.

Not to be overshadowed by the brawl was the performance of Fat Cats starting pitcher Brandon Huffman. He left the game with one out in the eighth after having given up only four hits and having ten strike-outs, bringing his league leading total to 27. As he left the game Huffman was given a standing ovation by the approximate 4,000 fans in attendance.

Ottawa Fat Cats pitcher Brandon Huffman on the mound in game against the Kitchener Panthers in the season opener at the Ottawa Stadium on Saturday May 19th, 2012. The Fat Cats defeated the Panther by a score of 7-0.

The Fat Cats broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the fourth. After Matt McGovern and Mark Charette were hit by pitches and advanced on a throwing error. Then Mike Andrulis’ single up the middle drove in the pair.

The Fat Cats wrapped up the game in the seventh where any thought of a come-back was put out of reach as they put up five more runs. Maoz drove two of them in with a single to right and Coker drove in two more with a big triple to deep center.

It was a bad night for Kitchener defensively as their pitchers hit four Ottawa batters and their fielders committed seven errors.

W.P. Brandon Huffman (1-0)

L.P. Mike McGillvary (0-1)