Bandits win 5-4
Holy hell, what a day.
The Burlington baseball club lived up to its nickname at Nelson Park this afternoon. The Bandits stole a couple of games from the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, both times in walkoff fashion.
In the first game, a pitchers' duel morphed into a battle of the bullpens, as the Leafs and Bandits combined to score nine runs in the final three innings of the game.*
Adam Garner pitched five strong for the visitors. Through five, he enjoyed a 3-0 lead thanks to two RBIs off the bat of Jon Waltenbury, and another from Tyler Mitchell. When Garner gave up a leadoff home run to Keith Kandel in the bottom of the 6th inning, manager Perry Mader came out to take the ball and hand it to closer Christian Botnick.
...only, Botnick's name was not on the scorecard, and he was not able to enter the game. Dave Ertl came on instead, but the clerical error seemed to have a ripple effect. Ertl was unable to record an out. His replacement, Cam Gray, allowed the tying run to score. His replacement, Dan Zlotnick, allowed the Bandits to take the lead.
The Leafs tied the game in the top of the 7th, but Burlington walked it off in their half of inning. Jordan Boston hit a single off Johnathan Solazzo and Kandel scored the winning run to complete the unlikely smash-and-grab job.
* IBL doubleheader games are seven innings long.
Game Recap:
The Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Burlington Bandits for a doubleheader at Nelson Park today. Game 1 was a rescheduled rainout from last month.
Hometown boy Steven Dressler took the mound against Adam Garner for the Torontonians.
Dressler and Garner exchanged four scoreless innings under the hot sun, scattering a handful of hits between them.
The Leafs finally got to Dressler in the top of the 5th inning. He walked second baseman Dan Marra to lead off, then recorded two outs as Marra advanced. A single by centerfielder Tyler Mitchell plated Marra. Mitchell then stole second, and Dressler walked the next two men up: shortstop Connor Lewis and catcher Grant Tamane. DH Jon Waltenbury then hit a bases-loaded single to score both Mitchell and Lewis, who collided with catcher Tyler Hardie at the plate. Hardie was shaken up on the play, but he finished the inning before coming out of the game. 3-0 Leafs after five innings.
In the bottom of the 6th, Garner gave up a lead off home run to shortstop Keith Kandel. Manager Perry Mader came out to bring in Christian Botnick, but Botnick had been left off the scorecard and Dave Ertl came on instead. Ertl hit the first batter he faced, leftfielder Justin Gideon. He then walked centerfielder Shaun Cooper. Mader brought in Cam Gray. DH Jordan Boston hit into a groundout that advanced both runners, and then first baseman Jim Martin drove them both in with a single to tie the game. Martin advanced to second on the play. Mader brought in Dan Zlotnick. He struck out the first batter he faced, but allowed pinch runner Nolan Pettipiece to advance to third base on a wild pitch. A single by pinch hitter George Salim scored Pettipiece and gave the Bandits a 4-3 lead after six innings.
Mitchell drew a leadoff walk to start the Leafs' half of the 7th and final inning. He then stole second and scored on an RBI single by Tamane. The Leafs managed to load the bases after that, but they couldn't get another run across the plate and it was a 4-4 game midway through the 7th.
Johnathan Solazzo came on to pitch the bottom of the 7th for Toronto. He gave up a leadoff single to rightfielder Dan Franceschetti. Kandel then reached first on a fielder's choice that eliminated Franceschetti. Gideon singled and Cooper walked to load the bases. Boston then rapped a single that scored Kandel and won the game 5-4 for Burlington.
Toronto 4-6-0
Burlington 5-10-0
W - Weston (1-2, 9.75)
L - Solazzo (0-1, 6.75)
BOXSCORE
During the half hour break between games, fans and players alike wolfed down hot dogs, sausages and burgers from Nelson Park's BBQ tent. I also slammed down a Muskoka Cream Ale, another cream ale from one of Ontario's quality craft breweries. Not bad.
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