Stepability. Grindertude.
These are not actual words, but they well
describe the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club, which took its fans on a
rollicking romp through the 2016 Intercounty Baseball postseason.
It was an unexpected trip. All summer long on the parched slopes of
Christie Pits, we watched the Leafs play.
They would win one, then lose one. Win another, and then lose another.
Inconsistency was their only constant.
Turns out they were biding their time, and they turned
that bounce-back approach into a winning formula for the playoffs.
The postseason Leafs – who stepped it up
and played each game like grinders – they were there all along, hidden in plain
sight like the Zodiac Killer. I see you,
Ted Cruz.
During their playoff run through August and
September, they knocked out two higher-ranked teams and played for the league championship.
Most impressive about that is that the club lost several players as the
postseason got under way. Players departed for college or for other reasons,
leaving the bench and the bullpen both short.
Marek Deska was one of four pitchers who carried
the burden of starting, relieving and closing out games.
“We just took it one game at a time and did
our best to give our team a chance to win,” he said. “Many of us were pitching
on short rest which was frustrating at times, but we managed and pulled off a
pretty good playoff run.”
The best part of the run was that each game had a different hero.
“Everybody had to step up,” said Leafs
first baseman Jon Waltenbury.
Toronto faced the Brantford Red Sox in the
quarterfinals.
The Sox sought revenge after being
eliminated by the Leafs in the 2015 playoffs. This year’s quarterfinal went the
full seven games and dragged on for over two weeks because of rain delays. Deska credited the rainouts for saving his
arm and those of his fellow starters, Justin Cicatello, Brett van Pelt and Mike
Wagner.
Game seven in Brantford was a low-scoring
nailbiter. The Leafs came back to win 4-2 in 10 innings. Designated hitter Sean
Mattson drove in the winning run that sent the Leafs to the semifinals.
Toronto’s semifinal opponents were the
London Majors, the league’s top ranked team.
The Majors won the first two games of the
series, and it looked as if they would enjoy a calm, dignified procession to
the championship.
“London was a grind,” Deska said. “The
driving and getting home late took a toll on the entire team.”
The Leafs grabbed a late win in game three,
won a wild game four, and battled the Majors all the way to another game seven.
“It was brutal,” said Leafs third baseman
Johnathan Solazzo. “Being down 2-0 right off the start with all the drama that
happened… but the way we won game seven and to be a part of that [left me]
speechless.”
The drama Solazzo referred to was an
incident he was involved in during game four at Christie Pits. Midway through
the game, a London baserunner slid hard into Solazzo at third. Both players
jumped up and stood eye to eye, challenging one another. Words were exchanged,
which led to shoving, and both teams spilled out onto the field. No punches
were thrown, but the Majors claimed that a racial slur was directed toward one
of their players during the skirmish.
The game was delayed for an hour as London
protested the incident. They eventually returned to the field and the Leafs won
that heated affair.
The series came down to a deciding match on
the road. There, it was outfielder Grant
Tamane’s turn to play the hero. Tamane hit a game-winning home run in the ninth
inning to stun London and punch Toronto’s ticket to the championship series.
In the finals, Toronto faced the league’s
two-time defending champions, the Barrie Baycats.
The Leafs battled hard, but they fell short.
The Baycats were able to score late in four straight games, and they swept the
Leafs for their third straight title.
It was Toronto’s first championship series
appearance since 2007, and the team continues on an upwards trajectory.
Could they win it all next year?
Solazzo:
“Each year we’re getting better and better
and making it one more step closer to winning the championship. I think the biggest thing we’re missing is
arms – maybe one more starter and fill up that bullpen with shut down guys and
we’ll be fine. We have the rest going for us.”
Waltenbury:
“We just need a few more arms to even out
the workload on our staff, and we’ve got to be tighter on D.”
Deska:
“We’ve got the right mix of guys and the
right mindset. Even though Barrie beat us in four games, we had an opportunity
to win every single one of those games.”
The 2016 Leafs came within four games of
winning another title. Fans can take heart over the coming winter that those four wins – and a championship – might be within reach
next year.
The
Maple Leafs will return in May 2017 for their 49th season of
baseball at Christie Pits.
