2021 IBL Semifinals - Game 1, September 15 - Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs
Leafs win 10-5
 |
| Justin Marra hit one of three Leafs home runs last night, as Toronto powered past the defending champions. |
A raucous Christie Pits was the scene for a thumping start to the semifinal series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Barrie Baycats last night.
The Leafs emerged with a 10-5 victory and wowed the largest, noisiest home crowd of the year.
In the top of the 1st inning, the Baycats came out swinging like Mike Tyson. They attacked starter Marek Deska with a flurry of punches. Double, single, single, single, single. They put three runs on the board before the game was barely under way. It was anguishing to watch, and it looked like a long night of substance abuse was coming up.*
But Deska is Deska. He absorbed the body blows, stayed on his feet and survived the assault.
In the bottom of the 1st, Damon Topolie's Bomb Squad took to the air and the Leafs took the lead. First baseman Jordan Castaldo singled, moved to third on a double by catcher Justin Marra, and jogged home when Barrie starter Andrew Grieder balked. Marra then came around to score on a single by second baseman Garrett Takamatsu. The inning's big blast came off the bat of right fielder Marcus Knecht, whose three-run bomb gave Toronto a 5-3 lead after one wild inning of play.
Justin Marra returned to the plate in the bottom of the 2nd inning and hit a two-run blast to make it a 7-3 ballgame.
A solo shot by Avery Tuck made it 7-4 in the top of the 3rd.
The Leafs responded with their third home run in as many innings, as Castaldo did great violence to a pitch by Grieder. He hit a two-run homer and stretched the Leafs' lead to 9-4. Very nice, very timely. Castaldo is like a baseball unicorn, transforming whichever team he's on into a playoff juggernaut. Please can we keep him?
Back to Deska, who stayed in the game through five innings. He gave up another solo home run to Tuck in the top of the 5th and departed with a 9-5 lead.
In the bottom of the 5th, a sac fly by Takamatsu made it a 10-5 game and the Leafs defence and bullpen took it from there.
Zach Sloan and Mateos Kekatos combined to pitch goose eggs in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings.
Closer Dustin Richardson took over for the 9th, calmly struck out three Baycats and sealed the 10-5 final.
It was Deska's second win of the postseason.
It was a complete team effort, on the mound, at the plate and in the field. Twelve Baycats were left stranded on base, testament to some great play especially in the infield.
An extra assist came from the Leafs' boisterous fans. The Bushmen were relentless. From the 1st inning through the 9th, they rolled a ceaseless tide of heckling over the Baycats and their travelling supporters, reminding them why Christie Pits is the Angry Confines of the IBL. A balk, a passed ball, a wild pitch, three errors and numerous swinging strikeouts - we will never know how many of these slip-ups happened because the Christie crazies got into the heads of the visitors.
Al "The Ticket Man" Ross confirmed record sales for the 7th inning draw, a fantastic showing from all the fans who wanted to show their support for the Leafs, or from people who really wanted a Keurig coffeemaker.
All in all a grand night at the old ballpark.
So round one goes to the challengers. The Leafs are a game away from the finals and will look to end this series Saturday afternoon in Barrie.
* for certain sports writers
Barrie 5 12 3
Toronto 10 12 0
W - Deska (2-0, 6.54)
L - Grieder (1-1, 11.42)
No comments:
Post a Comment