Leafs win 6-4
The great Toronto Maple Leaf baseball caravan rolled up the 400 yesterday with friends, family and high quality sports journalists in tow.
The Leafs arrived at newly-renamed Coates Stadium and beat the Barrie Baycats 6-4. They played a crisp game with ambition on the basepaths and timely hitting.
After a sloppy performance the night before, one wonders if manager Perry Mader kicked some asses, threw some tables and lit some fires in the clubhouse. Of course, none of that might have happened, but it's a fun visual when you picture it.
The Leafs outhit the Baycats for the second game in a row, 11 to 8. The offence was sparked by leadoff man Grant Tamane, who went 4 for 5, stole a base and scored two runs.
Cooper Stanley (above right) hit the big blast of the night, a two-run homer that tied the game and was part of a 4-run inning that put the Leafs ahead for good.
On the mound, Brett Van Pelt earned the win with a solid seven-inning performance. Dan Zlotnick continued to settle into his role as LOOGY Plus, shutting down the Baycats in the 8th and 9th innings. He left the final out of the game to Christan Botnick, who faced a single batter to nail down the save and the game.
The intermingling of blood has created a lot of personal connections, friendships and rivalries between these two ballclubs, and this is a fun series to follow through the course of the season. They will go at it again next week at Christie Pits.
Game Recap:
The game started at Coates Stadium under a sunny evening sky, and the night remained decent after the sun set. The famous skeeter swarms of Barrie have not yet arrived.
Starting pitcher Santos Arias set the Maple Leafs down in order to start the game, and the Baycats struck first in the bottom of the frame. Catcher Kyle DeGrace hit a liner to third baseman Sean Mattson, who dropped it for an error. DeGrace then stole second and scored on a single by first baseman Jordan Castaldo. 1-0 Baycats after one.
Barrie second baseman Tyler Fata led off the 3rd with a solo home run off Toronto starter Brett Van Pelt. Centerfielder Glenn Jackson followed with a double. Van Pelt gave up a single and a walk to load the bases, then walked in another run before getting the Baycats to hit into a bacon-saving doubleplay to end the inning. 3-0 Baycats after three.
Both teams traded runs in the 4th inning. Leadoff man Grant Tamane doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. Second baseman Dan Marra drove him home with a single.
Fata struck again in the bottom of the inning with another solo home run that made it 4-1 Barrie after four.
The Leafs jumped all over Arias in the 5th, sending 10 men to the plate and putting four more runs on the board. Mattson led off with a single, and catcher Brendan Keys followed with one of his own. Both runners advanced on a sac bunt by first baseman Damon Topolie. Mattson scored on a groundout by shortstop Ryan White. Then leftfielder Cooper Stanley tied the game with a 2-run home run off Arias. Tamane singled next, and Marra reached first on a fielding error. Rightfielder Jon Waltenbury took a pitch off the foot that loaded the bases. DH Johnathan Solazzo stepped up with the game winning RBI -- a single that scored Tamane and put the Leafs ahead 5-4 after five.
Van Pelt held the Cats at bay through the 6th and 7th innings. In the bottom of the 7th, Jackson reached second base on a walk and a single by rightfielder Ryan Spataro, but the scoring threat was extinguished on the following play. DeGrace hit one right back at Van Pelt, who threw to Mattson at third. Jackson slid, but was called out by the umpire. Barrie manager Angus Roy voiced his displeasure towards the ump immediately -- as would Jackson after the game -- but the call stood and the Leafs got through the inning unscathed.
Van Pelt turned it over to Dan Zlotnick, who put the home side down in order in the 8th.
In the top of the 9th, Josh Soffer came on to pitch and the Leafs scrabbled together an insurance run. Stanley reached first on a fielding error, then moved to second on Tamane's fourth hit of the night. A single by defensive sub Tyler Mitchell loaded the bases, and Stanley raced home to score on a wild pitch that made it 6-4 Leafs.
In the bottom of the 9th, Zlotnick got the first two outs before turning it over to Christian Botnick, who got DeGrace to ground out to Mattson for the final out of the game and a 6-4 final for the visitors.
Toronto 6-11-2
Barrie 4-8-2
W - Van Pelt (1-1, 3.78)
L - Arias (1-1, 2.11)
S - Botnick (2)
BOXSCORE
The Maple Leafs are now 4-3 and 3 games behind the London Majors. Their road trip continues with a visit to Brantford to take on the Red Sox this Saturday, May 30 at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Thunderdome.
Raul Borjas update: after taking a pitch off the batting helmet the night before, he's fine.
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