Leafs win 8-7
They need to play more Elvis Presley at Christie Pits.
He winds people up, young or old. Attitudes spike, awesomeness follows. Elvis brings the win.
On a hot afternoon that brought the "crazy" out in all the Christie Crazies, the Leafs collectively turned into Elvis, all hips and swagger and rock and roll. Losing 6-3 to the London Majors after six, they rocked London's relief pitching to pull within one run. Down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, they staged a winning rally to overcome the visitors and take the game like Elvis took Hawaii.
Seriously though, everyone was losing it today. The fans in the scout seats, the announcer, the owner, the Majors, the umpires... pretty much everybody except the Mapes, who kept their cool when all around them was gunga din.
It begins with Justin Cicatello, a man who will gladly pitch until his arm falls off. Today he delivered a classic 136-pitch performance, kept his team in the game all day and set the stage for a winning comeback.
Over on the offensive side of the boxscore, the Leafs racked up 15 hits against London pitching, with every batter in the lineup getting at least one. Nonstop hits, like ELVIS.
Dan Marra led the way with a solo home run, which was one of his three hits and two RBIs on the day. Johnathan Solazzo had two hits and tied the game in the bottom of the 9th with two RBIs. Earlier in the game, Ryan White hit an RBI double and Damon Topolie hit an RBI single. The game-winning poke came off the bat of Raul Borjas (above), who hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for the walkoff win.
Viva Las Christie!
Game Recap:
The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed the London Majors to Christie Pits on a steamy hot afternoon. As the summer sun beat down on the crazies and otherwise, Justin Cicatello and Adam Paish took to the mound for their respective sides.
"Cic" has a knack for starting games and going deep, deep, deep into them. This one would be no different, but he got off to a rough start. He hit London's leadoff man - centerfielder Humberto Ruiz - with a pitch. He followed that by giving up a two-run home run to former Maple Leaf and current Majors second baseman Cody Mombourquette. The dinger by "Mambo" gave the Majors a 2-0 lead after one.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Leafs third baseman Johnathan Solazzo led off with a single. He advanced to third and seemed stuck there as Paish got leftfielder Raul Borjas to ground out, and walked rightfielder Will Richards. DH Damon Topolie then stepped up to the plate and singled to bring Solazzo home. Richards advanced to third on the play, and he also scored on a single by second baseman Dan Marra. 2-2 after two.
Cicatello rolled along through the 3rd and 4th innings, and the Leafs took the lead in their half of the fourth. Richards led off with a single, advanced to second on a putout by Topolie, advanced to third on a single by Marra, and was driven home on a double by shortstop Ryan White. 3-2 Leafs after the 4th inning.
Things got messy for the Leafs in more ways than one in the top of the 5th. London shortstop Paul Lytwynec singled and Mombourquette was hit by a pitch - Cicatello's second on the day. He then walked third baseman Kenta Nishii to load the bases with two outs, but he couldn't get out of the jam. Catcher Larry Gonzalez was up next, and a bases loaded walk brought home Lytwynec. A single by DH Brett Sabourin then brought in Mombourquette. On that play, White went down with a tweaked knee and was replaced at shortstop by Connor Lewis. Tyler Mitchell went out to play centerfield, where Lewis had started the game. But wait there's more! Leftfielder Michael Ambrose was up next, and he doubled to score two more runs and give the Majors a 6-3 lead after five innings.
London's bullpen began to stir in the bottom of the seventh. With Paish still on the mound, Mitchell doubled to lead off, and Lewis followed with a single. Taylor Carr came in to pitch, and he gave up a single to first baseman Jon Waltenbury that scored Mitchell from third. 6-4 Majors after seven innings.
The Leafs clawed back another run in the bottom of the eighth, as Marra hit a solo home run off Carr to make it 6-5 Majors.
Cicatello returned to the mound to start the ninth. Like ELVIS. He walked Lytwynec, and with one out, he gave up an RBI double to first baseman Cleveland Brownlee. Having thrown 136 pitches, Cicatello turned it over to Christian Botnick, who put down the next two batters in order, like ELVIS. The Majors led it 7-5 with the Leafs down to their final at bats...
...and it was amazing. Jordan Skavinsky came in to pitch and try for the save. Connor Lewis came up to bat first, and he hit a grounder that got past Alex Martinez, who had come in earlier to play third. Martinez was given an error on the play as the ball rolled into left field and Lewis rolled into second base, like ELVIS. Catcher Grant Tamane was up next. He hit one to the left side of the infield that got booted, and Tamane cruised into first, like ELVIS. Skavinsky took no chances and walked Waltenbury, who took his base like ELVIS. This bought Solazzo to the plate with no outs. Solazzo knocked a single to centerfield, like ELVIS. That one was played for another error and it allowed Lewis and Tamane to tie the game. The crazies were going wild. Raul Borjas, the very picture of composure, was up next. He singled on the first pitch he saw, like ELVIS. Waltenbury scored, the Leafs won a walkoff and the Pits went bug-nuts. 8-7 final for Toronto.
London 7-8-3
Toronto 8-15-1
W - Botnick (2-0, 0.81)
L - Skavinsky (1-1, 5.14)
BOXSCORE
The Leafs are now 13-12 and 7.5 games behind the Barrie Baycats. They return to legendary Bernie Arbour Stadium in Hamilton on Tuesday, July 14 for a rescheduled game against the Cardinals. Really, really hoping they have hot croissants.
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