Leafs Subdue Slumping Cardinals

Game 8: Hamilton Cardinals at Toronto Maple Leafs - May 29, 2016

Leafs win 8-2

Some ballplayers get wary when a team mired in a long losing streak comes up next on the schedule.

It looks like easy pickings ahead, but every losing streak eventually comes an end.  No one wants to be the one to lose to a slumping team.  Reputations take a hit.  Egos get bruised.  The other kids point and laugh.  No, no one wants to lose to a slumping team.

So it was with that same sense of wariness that I descended into Christie Pits this afternoon to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs host the 0-and-7, winless-to-start-the-season Hamilton Cardinals.  Clustered around their dugout, the Leafs were all easy smiles and relaxed charm.  No signs of concern.  Maybe I was the only anxious one.

As soon as the game got underway, Hamilton scored first out of the gate (ahem).  They held the lead until the bottom of the fourth, when Dan Marra drove in a pair of runs for a 2-1 Leafs lead.

The Cardinals are a young team -- so very young -- but the tenacity of youth kept the score the same until the bottom of the 6th.  Then: Crash!  Bang!  Wham!  The Leafs put four more runs on the board.

The Leafs led 6-2 in the bottom of the 8th, when Johnathan Solazzo (above) added a KA-POW! to the proceedings with a 2-run home run that landed somewhere in Etobicoke.  Mary's not getting that one back.

I began to relax.

Everything worked out fine in the end.  The Leafs put in a total team effort for a solid win.  After pitching six strong innings and surrendering just one earned run, starter David Ertl made way for Adam Marra, Adam Garner and Matt Fiorini.  They each pitched an inning to close out the game and seal an 8-2 victory for the Leafs.


Game Recap:


The Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Hamilton Cardinals on another hot and sticky Sunday afternoon at Christie Pits.  Starter David Ertl made his first appearance of 2016 for the V-necks, versus Rhys Tapper for the Redbirds.

Hamilton got on the board in the top of the 1st inning.  Second baseman Marcus Dicenzo singled off Ertl and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Catcher Tyler Hardie singled to centerfield and Dicenzo went for home, scoring on an errant throw from Grant Tamane.  1-0 Cards after one.

Tapper and Ertl traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the 4th.  Leafs third baseman Johnathan Solazzo led off with a double.  Catcher Will Richards reached first on a walk.  Rightfielder Troy Daring reached first on a fielder's choice that eliminated Richards and moved Solazzo to third.  A single by second baseman Dan Marra scored both Solazzo and Daring and put the Leafs in front 2-1 through four innings of play.

David Cromer relieved Tapper in the bottom of the 5th.  The Leafs touched him for four runs in the bottom of the 6th.  Daring led off with a triple, sliding into third ahead of the tag.  Daring held third on a single by leftfielder Julio Guzman.  A sac fly by shortstop Ryan White brought Daring home.  Tamane followed with a single.  First baseman Jon Waltenbury then doubled to drive in Guzman.  Solazzo was up next, and he hit a two-RBI single that brought Tamane and Waltenbury home.  6-1 Leafs after six.

Hamilton got one back in the top of the 7th.  Adam Marra relieved Ertl, and he gave up a double to centerfielder Jake Folden.  Leftfielder Lake Molleson followed with a single that scored Folden.  Marra then got out of the inning with the help of the pitcher's best friend, a double play.  6-2 Leafs midway through seven.

Chris Beer pitched a scoreless bottom of the 7th.

Adam Garner pitched a scoreless top of the 8th.  

Tamane walked to lead off the bottom of the 8th.  Waltenbury struck out, then Solazzo returned to the plate and blasted a two-run homer to make it 8-2 Leafs.  The home run left Solazzo a triple short of the cycle and put an exclamation point on the day for the home side.

Matt Fiorini came in to pitch the 9th for Toronto.  He prevented any further damage, locked down the win for Erdl and an 8-2 FINAL for the Leafs.


Hamilton 2-7-1
Toronto 8-12-3

W - Ertl (1-0, 1.50)
L - Tapper (0-3, 6.42)


BOXSCORE


The Maple Leafs finish the month of May with a 5-2 record.  They are tied for second place in the IBL standings.  

Their next game is this Wednesday night at Christie Pits, against the 7-and-0, undefeated-to-start-the-season Kitchener Panthers.  Time to get anxious?

White's Wallop Wins it in the 12th

Game 7: Toronto Maple Leafs at London Majors - May 27, 2016

Leafs win 8-5 (12 inn.)

                                                                                                                                                                                           FILE PHOTO

Bam!  

Put a number 3 on this kid's back.  It's already there.  It's Ryan White, and his 2-run home run won the game for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

After 12 innings of play at Labatt Memorial Park, the Leafs emerged with an 8-5 victory over the London Majors.

White's winning wallop came on a night when starting pitcher Justin Cicatello defied everything it means to be human and pitched 11 innings for the Mapes.

Cicatello threw 151 pitches, gave up 12 hits, struck out nine and walked just one.

The Leafs and Majors fought a close battle throughout the game.  Toronto had small leads of one or two runs until London tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the 7th.

Facing his former team in the top of the 12th, pinch hitter Julio Guzman tripled.  That set the stage for White, who smashed a first pitch home run to put the Leafs ahead for good.  An insurance run driven in by Jon Waltenbury made it 8-5.  

Matt Fiorini came in to pitch the bottom of the 12th.  He struck out two Majors and completed a 1-2-3 inning to record the save and secure the win for Cicatello.


Game Recap:


The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their road trip with a stop at Labatt Memorial Park to face the London Majors.  Elis Jimenez was the home starting pitcher, facing Justin Cicatello for the visitors.

The Majors got on the board first.  Second baseman Chris McQueen singled and stole second.  Shortstop Keith Kandel followed with an RBI double as McQueen came around to score.  1-0 Majors after the first inning of play.

Toronto took the lead in the 3rd inning.  Leftfielder Argenis Vargas, centerfielder Grant Tamane, and shortstop Ryan White each singled.  A wild pitch from Jimenez allowed Vargas to score and the other baserunners to advance.  First baseman Jon Waltenbury then singled to score Tamane.  Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo followed with a single of his own to score White, and it was 3-1 Leafs through three.

London got a run back in the 4th.  Centerfielder Byron Reichstein led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch from Cicatello.  First baseman Cleveland Brownlee then singled to score Reichstein.  3-2 Leafs after four.

Designated hitter Justin Marra led off the top of the 5th with a solo home run -- his first career IBL home run.

In the bottom of the 5th, McQueen singled again, and advanced to third on a single by Kandel.  Cicatello was then called for a balk, allowing McQueen to cross home plate.  That made the score 4-3 after five innings of play.

In the top of the 7th, Solazzo reached first base on an error and moved to second on a wild pitch.  He proceeded to third on a single by catcher Will Richards.  Second baseman Dan Marra was up next, and he reached first safely on an error by London catcher Michael Ambrose.  Solazzo scored on the play and made it 5-3 Leafs midway through the 7th inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Cicatello walked third baseman Sean Refflinghaus, who was then lifted for pinch runner Carlos Arteaga.  Left fielder Humberto Ruiz then hit into a fielder's choice, reaching first base while Arteaga was put out at second.  A groundout by McQueen moved Ruiz to third.  Kandel then singled to score Ruiz, and advanced to second on an error by Cicatello.  Reichstein was up next, and he rapped a double to score Kandel and tie the game 5-5 after seven innings.

A stalemate ensued.  Cicatello continued to pitch through the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh (!) innings.  All told, he faced 43 batters on the night, threw 151 pitches and was the pitcher of record when the 12th inning commenced.

Pinch hitter Julio Guzman hit a one-out triple off of reliever Braeden Ferrington.  Then with two outs, White stepped up to the plate and crushed the first pitch he saw for a home run.  It was White's first career IBL home run, like that of Justin Marra who followed him to the plate.  Marra doubled and the hook came out for Ferrington.  He was replaced by Jordan Skavinsky, who gave up a single to Waltenbury.  That scored Marra and made it 8-5 Leafs.

Matt Fiorini relieved Cicatello in the bottom of the 12th, and set the Majors down in order to nail down his first save of the season and an 8-5 FINAL for the Leafs.


Toronto 8-21-2
London 5-12-3

W - Cicatello (2-0, 3.42)
L - Ferrington (1-1, 4.05)
S - Fiorini (1)


BOXSCORE


The Maple Leafs are now tied for second place in the IBL standings with a 4-2 record.  They return to Christie Pits on Sunday, May 29 to face the Hamilton Cardinals.

No Wicked Headline Out of Barrie

Game 6: Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats - May 26, 2016

Baycats win 13-7

Not much to rave about in the Toronto Maple Leafs' loss to the Barrie Baycats last night at Coates Stadium.  

On a hot and sticky night, the Leafs were slammed, jammed and rammed for a 13-7 loss to the defending IBL champions.  

The first half of the game was closely-fought, with Barrie holding on to a 3-2 lead midway through the 5th inning.  

Everything unravelled for Toronto in the bottom of the 5th.  The Baycats exploded for eight runs, capped off by a grand slam by Jordan Castaldo.

A couple of fielding errors with two outs -- one in the 2nd and one in the 5th -- resulted in runs for Barrie at key moments.

In his first start since pitching a complete game victory last weekend in Guelph,  Dillan Mulholland was roughed up over 4.1 innings, giving up five earned runs en route to a loss.  Harold Rumion made his Maple Leafs debut, pitching in relief for the remaining 3.2 innings.

All night long it looked like the Leafs were swinging pool cues in a billiards hall riot.  Lots of contact being made, but not the right kind.  They did scatter seven RBIs up and down the lineup.  Jon Waltenbury knocked in a couple, and Johnathan Solazzo, Troy Daring, Brendan Keys, Grant Tamane and Sean Mattson each drove one in.

Brett Lawson earned the win for Barrie despite giving up eight hits, five earned runs, three walks and three balks.

Once the game was over the Leafs couldn't board the team plane fast enough, headed to London for the next stop on their road trip.


Game Recap:


The Barrie Baycats hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at Coates Stadium, with Brett Lawson facing Dillan Mulholland on the mound.  

The Leafs jumped on Lawson in the first inning with three straight singles.  Second baseman Dan Marra got aboard first, moved to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a single by rightfielder Jon Waltenbury, and scored on a single by first baseman Johnathan Solazzo.

Barrie tied the game in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  DH Brandon Dhue hit a two-out double, then scored when second baseman Connor Morro hit a flyball deep to center which was misplayed by Troy Daring for an error.  1-1 after two.

The Baycats added two more in the bottom of the 4th.  Shortstop Branfy Infante reached first on a fielder's choice.  This was followed by a single by Dhue and a walk to Morro to load the bases.  Mulholland then walked centerfielder Glenn Jackson to bring home Infante.  Dhue also scored when rightfielder Ryan Spataro hit into a fielder's choice.  3-1 Baycats through four.

In the top of the 5th, Leafs shortstop Ryan White and leftfielder Grant Tamane each got aboard on walks.  Up next, Dan Marra reached first on an error by Infante and the bases were loaded.  Waltenbury hit into a fielder's choice that scored White and it was 3-2 Baycats midway through the 5th inning.

The bottom of the 5th served up the first trademark IBL One Big Inning to befall the Leafs this season.  Barrie sent 12 men to the plate, scoring eight runs and driving Mulholland from the game.  Third baseman Jordan Castaldo led off with a single, then scored on a double by first baseman Kevin Atkinson.  Left fielder Steve Lewis doubled next, moving Atkinson to third.  Mulholland then walked Dhue to load the bases, and Leafs manager Damon Topolie called for Harold Rumion to come on in relief.  A single by Morro drove in Atkinson and Lewis.  After Rumion struck out Jackson for the second out of the inning, Spataro grounded sharply to Solazzo, whose toss to Rumion at first went high.  Spataro was safe and Dhue scored.  Catcher Kyle DeGrace walked to load the bases, and Castaldo came up to bat for the second time in the inning.  He cleared the bases with a grand slam home run and it was 11-2 Baycats after five innings of play.

The Leafs immediately began clawing back.  Third baseman Sean Mattson singled to start the 6th inning.  DH Justin Marra singled next.  Daring singled next, scoring Mattson.  Catcher Brendan Keys singled next, scoring Marra.  During Daring's at bat, Lawson had been called for his third balk of the game and was rapidly losing patience with the home plate umpire.  Barrie manager Angus Roy brought in Jaspreet Shergill to pitch in relief.  A groundout by White moved Keys to second and Daring to third, and then a sac fly by scored Daring.  11-5 Baycats midway through six.

Barrie got one back in the bottom of the 6th.  Infante led off with a double off Rumion, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Spataro.  12-5 Baycats after six.

Spataro drove in his third run of the game in the bottom of the 8th.  After Jackson had singled ahead of him, he hit a single to centerfield that brought Jackson in all the way from first, making it 13-5 with the Leafs down to their final outs.

After Adam Hawes pitched a scoreless 8th, Chris Nagorski came in to finish the game for Barrie.  He walked Dan Marra, then gave up a double to pinch hitter Argenis Vargas.  Solazzo hit a sac fly that plated Marra and moved Vargas to third.  Mattson then singled to drive in Vargas and make it 13-7, and that would be the final score as Nagorski got out of the inning with no further damage.


Toronto 7-12-2
Barrie 13-13-1

W - Lawson (2-0, 3.75)
L - Mulholland (1-1, 5.28)


BOXSCORE


With a 3-2 record, the Maple Leafs are now tied with Barrie for third place in the IBL standings.

Their next game is on the road later tonight against the London Majors.

Buds Bash the Brant Sox

Game 5: Brantford Red Sox at Toronto Maple Leafs - May 22, 2016

Leafs win 8-6




The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrated Victoria Day this afternoon with a 16-hit salute and an 8-6 victory over the Brantford Red Sox.  The huge Christie Pits crowd went home sun-kissed and delighted by the show.

Jon Waltenbury (above) and Sean Mattson lit the fireworks with a home run each.  Wally's 3-run blast in the 4th inning put the Mapes ahead for good.

Will Richards accounted for four of the Leafs' hits on the day and he knocked in two runs.

Johnathan Solazzo went 3-for-5 with a double and hiked his batting average to .529.

The Toronto baseball club has been bringing a potent offence to each game so far this season.  The mystique of Christie Pits is that no lead is ever safe, something that has been demonstrated in spectacular fashion over the years, most recently during the 2015 postseason.  Today the Leafs fought back from behind twice, exemplifying the kind of steely resolve and never-say-die attitude that made the British Empire great.  Yeah, Queen Victoria and all that.

On the mound, Justin Cicatello pitched seven solid innings for the win, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out eight.  A trio of pitchers finished up the last two innings with Adam Garner earning his first save of the season.


Game Recap:


The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed the Brantford Red Sox to Christie Pits for a Victoria Day weekend contest.  On the mound were Justin Cicatello for the home side and Graham Tebbit for the visitors.

Second baseman Benjamin Bostick led off the game by rapping a single to centerfield.  He advanced to third when third baseman Tyler Patzalek's sacrifice attempt was played for an error at first base, and he scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch.  Patzalek followed him in on a ground out that made it 2-0 after a half inning of play.

In the bottom of the first, right fielder Jon Waltenbury and first baseman Johnathan Solazzo each singled.  Catcher Will Richards followed with another single.  Waltenbury made the turn at third and scored easily.  Richards was gunned down at second before Solazzo could cross the plate, and it was 2-1 Brantford after one inning of play.

The Red Sox blitzed Cicatello for a pair of doubles to start the 2nd inning.  Leftfielder Nic Burdett hit the first one, and he was driven home when centerfielder Dennon Koziol hit the second one.  That made it 3-1 Brantford midway through two.

The Leafs tied the game in the bottom of the 2nd.  Third baseman Sean Mattson led off with a solo home run.  Shortstop Ryan White doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Centerfielder Grant Tamane followed with a single that scored White and it was 3-3 after two.

Brantford retook the lead in the top of the 4th on a solo home run by Burdett that made it 4-3.

Toronto seized the game by the throat and took the lead for good in the bottom of the 4th.  DH Justin Marra led off with a walk, then moved to third on a double by leftfielder Troy Daring.  A sac fly by White plated Marra, and ended Tebbit's afternoon after 3.1 innings.  Matt Martinow came on in relief and got into a heap of trouble.  He walked Tamane, then gave up a three-run bomb to Waltenbury -- a home run that went so far and so high that it did not seem to land, much to the delight of the large home crowd, the astonishment of the umpires, and the disappointment of the Christie Pits ball chasers.  7-4 Leafs after four.

The Leafs tacked on a run in the bottom of the 6th.  Solazzo doubled and scored on a single by Richards.  8-4 Leafs after six.

Cicatello retired the side in the 7th and turned it over to Cameron Gray to start the 8th.  Gray, who had spent most of the previous afternoon warming up in anticipation of relieving Dillon Mulholland in Guelph (it never happened), got into a jam quickly.  He allowed first baseman Dan Jagdeo to reach first on a throwing error, then gave up a single to catcher Ricky Murray -- a single that turned into a double and allowed Jagdeo to score.  Gray then walked Burdett, but got the next two batters to fly out.  He then hit rightfielder Casey Howard with a pitch, and walked Bostick with the bases loaded to bring Murray in to score.  Matt Fiorini entered the game and got the next batter to fly out to end the threat, but the Red Sox had pulled closer, down 8-6 after eight.

Adam Garner came in to the pitch the ninth for Toronto and he struck out the first two batters he faced.  He then gave up singles to Murray and Burdett before striking out Koziol to lock down the win for Cicatello and earn his first save of the season with an 8-6 FINAL for Toronto.


Brantford 6-11-1
Toronto 8-16-3

W - Cicatello (1-0, 4.50)
L - Tebbit (0-1, 13.50)
S - Garner (1)

BOXSCORE

The Maple Leafs are now 3-1 and tied for second place in the IBL standings.

The Leafs hit the road for a pair of games starting this Thursday, May 26 up in Barrie, and on Friday, May 27 down in London.  Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.