When I look at a map of Kitchener, my teeth itch.
Toronto's streets are laid out on a nice grid. Burlington, Hamilton, London, all nice grids.
Then there's Kitchener, which looks like a plate of spaghetti that's been dropped on the floor. Kitchener has roads that snake around every which way, intersecting at weird angles. There are eight different King Streets. One bad turn can throw you right off course. I know this from previous experience. There was one time in Kitchener when one bad turn stuck me on an endless service road that took forever to get off of.
One bad turn is all it takes.
I studied a road map well in advance of driving down for the Toronto Maple Leafs' game against the Kitchener Panthers at Jack Couch Park last night. Got there without incident.
Jack Couch is a nice little park, home to a club that has been in existence since 1919 - as long as the league itself. A small clubhouse has an announcer's booth that overlooks the field from behind the tall backstop fence. A symmetrical green fence curves around the outfield with a variety of tall trees peeking over. You can hear and see the traffic moving on Highway 7 behind the fence, giving the park an urban feel.
The fans there seemed pretty upbeat, and they really like pounding down sausages. No hot dogs, gotta be sausages. Must be a Kitchener thing. It's no accident that a giant illuminated Schneider's sign greets you as you enter Sausageland.
The only flaw with the park is that because of the way the field is laid out, fielders have to squint into the setting sun for the first couple of innings. And the lights on the outfield scoreboard are wonky. Before the game had even begun, they were showing a 3-0 score for the visiting team.
Recap:
The momentum of the Maple Leafs' 16-1 rout of Guelph the night before carried over into this game, as they put on another show of offensive power.
Centerfielder Glenn Jackson led the game off with a double, and Jordan Castaldo blasted a home run to make it 2-0 before the sun had even dipped below the horizon.
DH Kevin Hinton started off what would become a monster night for him with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd to make it 3-0.
Panthers' shortstop Keith Kandell drove in a run in the bottom of the 2nd, and rightfielder Bryon Bell drove in another in the 3rd to make it 3-2. (According to the wonky scoreboard, it was 8-4.)
Leafs' first baseman Sean Mattson led off the 4th with a home run. Leftfielder Raul Borjas followed that with a double, but he would end up getting tagged out standing up by the Panthers' catcher on a Rob Gillis single. Second baseman Gillis however would make it home when Kevin Hinton singled with his second hit of the game.
Throughout this game, the Panthers team would continue to show itself to have players who were both tenacious, and who had fantastically alliterative names. Centerfielder Darnell Duckett doubled to start the bottom of the 4th, and he would come home on a putout by Keith Kandell to make it 5-3 after 4.
Goose eggs in the 5th were followed by another pair of runs by the Leafs in the 6th. Kevin Hinton continued his monster night with a huge rumbling double, sliding into second to beat the tag. At age 46, he motors around the bases better than I could at age 26. Hinton rumbled to third on a passed ball, and came home on a Glenn Jackson single. As he was greeted by his teammates, Hinton knew what kind of night he was having. "Triple for the cycle, boys," he said between high fives. Jackson stole second and went to third on a fielder's choice by shortstop Cody Mombourquette, who was safe at first on an error by Panthers' shortstop Kandell. Adam Lentz came on to replace starting pitcher Adam Echlin, but he threw gas on the fire with a wild pitch that plated Jackson. The score was 7-3 Leafs after 6.
Cam Grey came on in relief for Leafs' starter Adam Garner in the 7th and pitched a scoreless inning.
The Leafs' offensive showcase (aka The Kevin Hinton Show) continued in the 8th. The Panthers brought in their Japanese import, pitcher Daisuke Yasui. Everyone in the park leaned in for a closer look at his submarine delivery. Hinton looked at three pitches, then blasted the fourth over the fence in center-right for his second home run.
It was now 8-3 for the Leafs and the feeling around the park was that the Panthers were done. As the temperature dropped, fans began trickling away, but a few dozen remained to see what happened next.
Bottom of the 8th, Grey still pitching. Two singles and a walk and the Panthers had the bases loaded immediately. Darnell Duckett singled in two runs. Two more singles would bring in another runner, and a sac fly would plate a fourth. A walk loaded the bases again and Marek Deska had to come in to try and end this death by a thousand cuts. Kitchener had done all of this damage with a flurry of singles and walks. Deska struck out the first batter he faced, bringing a roar from the Leafs' dugout, but he then walked in the tying run - Kitchener's fifth of the inning - and it was 8-8 after 8. Meltdown in K-town. The scoreboard blew up for good and stuck on 13-13.
The Leafs would not go quietly and loaded the bases on new pitcher Mike Gatchene, but they couldn't bring anyone home. Thirdbaseman Tyler Fata struck out to end the threat, then got tossed for arguing balls and strikes.
It seemed inevitable that Kitchener would bring an end to things in the bottom of the 9th. Momentum had clearly swung their way. The few remaining fans started taunting the visiting team with reminders of another Maple Leafs team that had suffered a meltdown that week (the hockey Leafs blew a 4-1 lead to lose Game 7 of their playoff series against Boston a few nights before).
Pinch hitter Kaiden Bowers singled, moved to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a passed ball, and trotted home with the winning run on a long flyball by Mike Andrulis that vanished into the darkness in centerfield.
Kitchener completed the comeback to win 9-8. Deska was tagged with the loss.
One bad turn in Kitchener. It's up to the boys in blue to get back on course.
The Maple Leafs are now 3-2 and, like the Kitchener Panthers, 1.5 games behind the Brantford Red Sox. Their next game is against the Burlington Bandits at Christie Pits on May 19.
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