On the Christie Hillside: June 2022

Monday, June 27, 2022

This Country, These Pits

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 20 to 26, 2022

Week 6 saw the Leafs take two out of three and climb to 3rd place in the IBL standings.

Former major leaguer Angel Castro made his Maple Leafs debut at Christie Pits on Sunday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs -- Canada's favourite ballclub -- have been on a roll.

Going into Sunday's contest at Christie Pits -- Canada's favourite ballpark -- the Leafs had won eight of their last ten games. This included wins on Friday in Hamilton and on Saturday at Welland against a Jackfish club that had swept them in May.

The big news this week was the arrival in Toronto of former Oakland Athletics pitcher Angel Castro.

"We needed a horse, so we're bringing in the horse," said Damon Topolie -- Canada's favourite player-manager -- before Sunday's home tilt against the Jackfish. "We're gonna let him out of the stable today and see what he does."

Castro's signing means there are now two former Major League pitchers on the Leafs roster, the other being ex-BoSox beast Dustin Richardson.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is that the Leafs roster is nowhere near final, with more additions slated to join the team before their playoff push begins in August.

Summer is in full swing and Maple Leafs baseball is a thrill ride that beckons irresistibly.

Friday, June 24, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals

Damon Topolie crosses home plate after hitting his second home run of the season and putting the Leafs ahead for good at Bernie Arbour Stadium. (Image: IBLCardinalsBaseball YouTube)

Two aces, never in doubt.

After winning a come-from-behind walk off thriller on Sunday, the Maple Leafs rolled into Steeltown fully armed.

Marek Deska on the mound. Zach Sloan in the pen. Together, the Leafs aces combined to pitch eight innings, giving up just one hit and one run.

The boys in blue were never behind in this one. In the top of the 1st inning, shortstop Jose Vinicio singled and stole second, then scored the first run of the game on an RBI single by third baseman Johnathan Solazzo.

In the bottom of the 1st, Deska surrendered the one and only run that Hamilton would score on the night. Tyler Duncan doubled to drive home Cards leadoff man Justin Gideon, who had walked to start the frame. 1-1 ballgame through one.

The Leafs took the lead in the top of the 2nd and never looked back. Making a start as catcher, Luca Boscarino walked to lead things off, then stole second. Boscarino advanced to third on a bunt by centerfielder Connor Lewis. All this to set up a two-run homer by DH Damon Topolie to give the Leafs a 3-1 lead. Boom!

That remained the score until the 7th, when Toronto finally chased starter Chris Lazar. Right fielder Yusei Teraoka and Vinicio both singled, then advanced to 2nd and 3rd with a double steal. Teraoka went on to score on an error by Hamilton's catcher, and first baseman Jordan Castaldo drove Vinicio home with a single to make it 5-1 Leafs through seven.

Deska went the first five innings. Sloan relieved him with three scoreless. That left the 9th inning to Chris Nagorski, who had little trouble in putting this one to bed with a 5-1 FINAL and a win for Deska.

Toronto 5 9 2

Hamilton 1 2 3

W - Deska (2-0, 2.64)

L - Lazar (0-2, 4.19)

BOXSCORE

Saturday, June 25, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish

Adam Marra earned his first save of the season as the Leafs beat the Jackfish at Welland Stadium. (Image: Welland Jackfish YouTube)

Faithful readers will recall the last time the Maple Leafs cast out looking to land some Jackfish.

It was the final weekend in May and the Leafs played a home-and-home series against Welland. It turned out to be a lost weekend as the team hit some rough waters. Their lines broke, their rods snapped and the boat overturned. Your heroes got swept.

The final weekend in June presented an opportunity to even the score, beginning Saturday night in Niagara.

This time it was Welland's Boatto that capsized and the Leafs landed a big win.

The Mapes on the mound dictated affairs. After the vets on Friday, it was the kids on Saturday. Starter Dylan Jacober gave up two runs over five innings en route to the win. Relievers Ryan Wells and Sam Greene combined to pitch three scoreless innings. Adam Marra slammed the door in the 9th.

Boatto remained on the mound for Welland to take the complete game loss.

All of the game's scoring took place in the 3rd inning. Shortstop Jose Vinicio reached first base on a fielder's choice, then came all the way around to score on an RBI single by catcher Justin Marra, thanks to some slow motion fielding by Welland. Marra moved to second when first baseman Jordan Castaldo drew a walk. Marra scored when third baseman Johnathan Solazzo ripped a ground rule double that bounced over the right field fence. With two men on and two out, left fielder Aidan McAskie clubbed a grounder right through the infield into center, scoring two runs and giving the Leafs a 4-0 lead.

The Jackfish battled back in the bottom of the 3rd. They touched Jacober for a single and a pair of doubles to put two runs on the board.

It was 4-2 after three innings, and that remained the score into the bottom of the 9th. Adam Marra retired the 'Fish in order to lock down his first save of the season, and Jacober's first dub in a Leafs uniform.

Toronto 4 5 0

Welland 2 7 3

W - Jacober (1-0, 3.60)

L - Boatto (0-2, 3.09)

S - A. Marra (1)

BOXSCORE

Sunday, June 26, 2022 - Welland Jackfish at Toronto Maple Leafs

On a sweltering Sunday afternoon, a seat in the shade and further back from the action felt like the best place to be.

This country, these Pits!

Not a game goes by without seeing something new at the legendary home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

You might think it was the sight of a former Major League pitcher taking the mound for the Leafs.

As dawn broke on Sunday, social media was ablaze over a new signing for Toronto: former Oakland Athletics pitcher Angel Castro. No sooner had the signed contract been spat out of the fax machine than Castro's plane landed at Pearson and he was sped to the ballpark via Toronto police motorcade in time for his 2:00 pm debut.

But Castro is not even the first major leaguer to currently wear the famous V-neck. Closer Dustin Richardson is a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

No, it was literally the bottom of the 9th when I spotted a bizarre sight on the Christie hillsides. A porta potty appeared to have been overturned and its progress down the northern slopes was halted by a single strand of caution tape.

Talk about metaphor.

Castro's debut was marred by an offensive onslaught by the visiting Welland Jackfish. Sloppy play in the infield (four errors) did not help, nor did the Leafs' cold bats. They didn't score until the 7th inning and by then it was too little too late. The Wellanders riled up the angry confines with a 14-2 win.

So a toppled plastic outhouse no doubt sloshing with, er, "sewage," or "effluent" (my people call it piss and shit) seemed the most fitting image of the day.

Let's forget this one and move on.

Welland 14 17 1

Toronto 2 9 4

W - Corrente (3-0, 4.50)

L - Castro (0-1, 11.25)

BOXSCORE

With a record of 11-7, the Maple Leafs are 3rd in the IBL standings, 2 games behind the Welland Jackfish.

A royal week lies ahead:

Tuesday, June 28 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals (makeup game from May 21), 7:30 pm at Hastings Stadium

Saturday, July 2 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals, 7:30 pm at Hastings Stadium

Sunday, July 3 - Guelph Royals vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 pm at Christie Pits

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Blasting Bombs and Stirring Souls

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 13 to 19, 2022

A pair of Jordan Castaldo home runs bookended all the Week 5 action for the Toronto Maple Leafs

On Wednesday night, all of Christie Pits watched as Jordan Castaldo's monster home run departed Toronto and entered international airspace.

Maple Leafs baseball is good for the soul.

Players, fans, staff and volunteers -- everyone knows this. Each time one sets foot on the grass and paths of Christie Pits, all the crap of daily life is set aside for a few hours. An unlikely community from all walks of life comes together.

The imagination is fed. The quiet cut loose. The mild-mannered become legends. As a Leafs player recently put it, on game days he is the mayor of exactly one acre of Toronto, acclaimed by the electorate on the hillsides.

The baseball Leafs are the only major sports team in the city that lets its fans watch without charging admission. Free baseball for free! What's not to love. The players, the moonshots, the runs and the heckling. You get swept up in it all.

Even when the home side is down, there are moments that stir, like Jordan Castaldo's monster home run on Wednesday night. The game was eventually lost, but the moment remains.

After a road win in Kitchener, the Pits was the scene of more drama on Sunday. The Leafs were in a jam, but the boys battled back from a five-run deficit to the Hamilton Cardinals. They tied the game, lost the lead again, then raised everyone up in a hallelujah chorus with two home runs in a row to tie the game, then win in a walkoff. Once again, Castaldo with the heroics.

It's a different hero every game, which bodes well for the postseason. Justin Marra and Aiden McAskie launching bombs. Johnathan Solazzo and Luca Boscarino driving in runs. Zach Sloan and Marek Deska dominating on the mound. A bottomless bullpen setting up showstoppers Chris Nagorski and Dustin Richardson. And Damon Topolie defying time with timely hitting.

Week 5 of the IBL season had it all.

Wednesday, June 15, 2022 - Kitchener Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs

Well you know a photo like this is not a good sign.

On Wednesday night, the Leafs welcomed the Kitchener Panthers to Christie Pits.

The visitors put on an appalling display of bad manners, scoring runs in bunches and taking off with a win. They battered Leafs pitching for 14 hits, scored 14 runs and refused to play along with the theme that no lead is safe at the Pits.

Their lead was quite safe.

Diego Dominguez made the start on the bump for Toronto, and cruised through the first couple of innings.

In the bottom of the 2nd, the Leafs took a 1-0 lead when right fielder Luca Boscarino scored on a sac fly by DH Damon Topolie.

Kitchener struck back in the 3rd with three runs to take the lead.

The Mapes evened the score in the bottom of the 3rd. First baseman Jordan Castaldo hit a bomb over the centerfield fence, a monster shot that wowed everyone at the ballpark. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo followed that with a single, and scored on an RBI double by Boscarino to make it a 3-3 ballgame through three.

It all went downhill after that.

The Panthers chased Dominguez in the top of the 4th. They then pounced on reliever Yusei Teraoka, who battled through three innings of relief but gave up a bunch of runs. After six innings, the Panthers enjoyed an 11-4 lead.

In the bottom of the 7th, catcher Justin Marra hit a 2-run homer to make it an 11-6 ballgame.

At that point, the unruly houseguests barged into the kitchen, drank the rest of the booze, broke a couple of glasses and took off with grandad's prized ashtray AND his prized butane lighter from the army. Appalling. 14-6 was the FINAL for Kitchener.

Kitchener 14 14 1

Toronto 6 12 0

W - Douglas (2-0, 2.40)

L - Dominguez (0-1, 6.54)

BOXSCORE

Thursday, June 16, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Kitchener Panthers

Aiden McAskie is greeted at the plate after hitting a grand slam, his second home run in consecutive at bats on Thursday night in Kitchener. (Image: Panthers Baseball Online YouTube)

Thursday night in Old Berlin, those Panthers were singing a different song. It went: "Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen," which means "You Spanked Our Bottoms. Again Please!" *

With revenge on their minds, the Maple Leafs rolled into Jack Couch Park and went nuts.

Four hits in the 1st inning, including RBI singles from right fielder Luca Boscarino and second baseman Grant Tamane, made it a 2-0 ballgame right from the get-go.

The Leafs scored three more in the top of the 3rd, courtesy of home runs by catcher Justin Marra and third baseman Aidan McAskie. That made it a 5-0 ballgame.

McAskie returned to the plate in the top of the 4th and smashed a grand slam to make it a 9-0 ballgame. And the rout was on.

Zach Sloan made the start for the Leafs and he pitched four innings, giving up just one run. He was relieved by Ryan Wells for three innings. Dylan Jacober pitched a scoreless 8th.

By then, it was a 13-1 ballgame. The Leafs piled it on in the top of the 9th, adding five more runs including a two-run home run off the bat of first baseman Jordan Castaldo. It was the Leafs fifth homer of the night, with McAskie and Justin Marra each hitting two earlier.

In "garbage time", Kitchener scrounged up five runs but the game was already well out of reach. Chris Nagorski put the black cats out of their misery in the bottom of the 9th for an 18-6 FINAL and a great bounce-back victory for the boys in blue.

* German is a deeply weird language.

Toronto 18-16-1

Kitchener 6-11-1

W - Wells (1-0, 6.00)

L - Schnarr (0-1, 10.12)

BOXSCORE

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - Hamilton Cardinals at Toronto Maple Leafs

Jordan Castaldo sealed another winning week for the Leafs with a walk off home run on Sunday. (Photo: Craig Aiken / caps_sports_photography)

A month into the season, the Maple Leafs played the Hamilton Cardinals for the first time.

Not a great start to the season for Hamilton, who began the day with a 4-7 record.

Great start to the game, though. Through the first six innings on Father's Day, the Redbirds smacked pitchers Dylan Jacober and Sam Greene around for a 6-1 lead. The lone Leafs run came way back in the 1st inning courtesy of an RBI single by catcher Justin Marra.

As they say on the hillsides: no lead is safe.

Bottom of the 7th. Bases loaded. The man from Japan, left fielder Yusei Teruoka hit a sac fly to bring in one run and make it a 6-2 score.

Bottom of the 8th. Rally time. With two outs and a man on first, second baseman Johnathan Solazzo hit an RBI double. Up next was Luca Boscarino, who singled and moved Solazzo to third. Up next was centerfielder Connor Lewis, who hit a stylish single and plated Solazzo. Up next was first baseman Damon Topolie, who doubled in Boscarino and Lewis to tie the game 6-6 through eight innings.

No lead is safe!

But the Cardinals were determined to play the spoilers. In the top of the 9th, Chris Nagorski took the mound for Toronto. He recorded two outs, then surrendered a walk and two singles to give Hamilton a 7-6 lead.

In the bottom of the 9th, Cardinals pitcher Daury Torrez recorded two outs to start the inning. Justin Marra stepped up to the plate and battled Torrez through seven pitches, working the count to 2 and 2 before belting a solo home run. It was Marra's fourth consecutive game with a homer. Moments after Marra crossed home plate, third baseman Jordan Castaldo stepped up and launched the first pitch from Torrez for a game winner. Walk off! A week that began with a Castaldo bomb ended the same way. 8-7 FINAL for the Leafs! Happy Father's Day!

Hamilton 7 9 1

Toronto 8 14 1

W - Nagorski (2-0, 10.28)

L - Torrez (0-2, 5.40)

BOXSCORE

Below photos are from Wednesday night, June 15 vs Kitchener Panthers