Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 11 to 17, 2022
The Leafs were cranking them out all week long during a 4-game win streak.
 |
| Justin Marra cannot be stopped from driving in runs. Look upon his stats, ye IBL, and despair. |
Who among these hitmakers does not play at Rogers Centre?
a) The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Club
b) The Weeknd
c) neither
The answer is neither but I daresay the Leafs are the bigger of the two at the moment. From classic boppers to fresh bangers, fans love them all.
In the past week the Leafs recorded 42 hits, something no musician can claim.
Wednesday night, they lit up the Christie amphitheatre with a raging 16-hit show and crushed the Barrie Baycats.
Friday night, they hit the road and topped themselves with a 17-hit encore.
Sunday, they clubbed another 9 hits but the 4-game winning fun ride came to an end at the hands of the London Majors.
Still tho, this club is rocking up the charts all the way to number one.
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 - Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs
 |
| There was a whole lotta love being felt on Wednesday night as the Leafs destroyed the visiting Barrie Baycats. |
"This lead is safe."
The startling declaration came from the Maple Leafs' rogue scorekeeper. He and I were standing beside the third base fence at Christie Pits watching the late innings of a demolition job by the home side.
Rogue scorekeeper has been watching Leafs baseball for decades, sometimes keeping score in a notebook, sometimes not. His encyclopedic memory and instant recall of past games, plays and incidents give assurance that when the decision desk of his mind makes a projection, it's a good one.
It might have been tempting to make a projection after just one inning of this Wednesday nighter against the Barrie Baycats.
Angel Castro retired the side for the Leafs to start the game.
Baycats starter Henrry Civil didn't make it out of the first inning. Hell, he didn't record a single out. There's "effectively wild" and then there's "wildly ineffective" and he was the latter. He walked five Mapes, giving up two hits and two stolen bags as well as a wild pitch. The Leafs churned around the bases and scored four runs before Civil was relieved by Evan Soules. The nightmare continued for Barrie. A single and a sac fly put two more runs on the board, and then catcher Justin Marra smashed a three-run bomb. With a monster first inning, the Leafs took a 9-0 lead.
Barrie scored a couple of runs in the top of the 3rd to make it 9-2.
The Leafs piled it on, scoring runs in every inning from the 3rd to the 7th. Justin Marra led the way with four hits, two walks and five RBIs on the night.
As the massacre unfolded, Baycats fielders were run ragged chasing missiles off Leafs bats.
Conversely, it was a quiet night for the Leafs' outfield of Aidan McAskie (left), Gregory Carrington (center) and Luca Boscarino (right). After the game, I asked them where their minds went during a blowout and if there's a trick to stay focussed when there's not much being hit their way.
"It's important to try and focus on doing your job even when it's a blowout," said McAskie.
"Honestly, there's still a game to play, still 27 outs to be made," said Carrington. "It's important to show [our pitchers] you have their back on defence no matter the score."
"You gotta help your pitcher out in whatever way you can, to save him pitches and stressful innings." McAskie added.
Last word to Boscarino:
"Sometimes it gets tough when there's not much coming to the outfield, but when you're really dialed into the game and 100 percent in, pitch by pitch it makes the game go by quicker. There's no tricks but to just keep moving on to the next pitch and next at bat, whether it's offence or defence, and just trying to get better every pitch and be ready for anything."
Music to a manager's ears. Skipper Damon Topolie can rest assured that his boys are not out there staring at cloud formations or admiring their arm veins. They are Locked In To Win.
The game ended with a 20-4 FINAL score. Castro got his first IBL win and Zach Sloan pitched the final three innings for the save.
Barrie 4 11 0
Toronto 20 16 1
W - Castro (1-2, 7.54)
L - Civil (0-1, 21.21)
S - Sloan (1)
Pix from the Wednesday nighter.
c.jpg)
Friday, July 15, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox
 |
| The Leafs celebrate another victory in Brantford on Friday night. (Image: Brantford Red Sox YouTube) |
The hits just keep on coming.
Friday night at the Big AA in Brantford, the Leafs pounded out 17 more en route to an 11-5 win over the last-place Red Sox.
Right fielder Gregory Carrington collected four hits including two sizzling triples.
Seven of the Leafs' runs came off the bats of catcher Justin Marra (4 RBIs) and first baseman Jordan Castaldo (3 RBIs). Second baseman Dan Marra drove in a pair, and shortstop Jose Vinicio and third baseman Johnathan Solazzo each drove in one.
Marra and Castaldo have been on a tear this month and they lead the Leafs in hitting. Marra is tied for 3rd in the IBL for RBIs, while pitchers continue to respect (read: fear) Castaldo, making him the most-walked batter in the league by a long mile.
Marek Deska pitched the first four innings and handed a 6-3 lead to reliever Dylan Jacober.
The Red Sox snuck up and made it a 6-5 game after six innings, but the Leafs pulled away for good in the 7th when they scored five more runs.
Ryan Wells pitched a perfect 9th to seal the 11-5 FINAL for Toronto.
Toronto 11 17 2
Brantford 5 10 0
W - Jacober (2-0, 6.00)
L - Larner (1-3, 5.72)
Sunday, July 17, 2022 - London Majors at Toronto Maple Leafs
 |
| Lotta this going on at the Pits on Sunday, as the London Majors blasted their way to a win. (file photo) |
The Leafs' mid-July 4-game win streak came to an end on Sunday at Christie Pits.
On paper, it looks like the game against the visiting London Majors was a combination home run derby and demolition derby.
The Majors hit five homers including a pair by Austin Wilkie as the Leafs fell 14-8.
Wilkie hit Franklin Hernandez's first pitch of the game for a homer and it was all downhill from there. He returned to the plate during a 2nd inning that was utterly grotesque. The Leafs defence fell apart, committing four errors to set the stage for a 7-run explosion that included a grand slam by Wilkie.
All told, the Leafs committed five errors on the day, a performance that must have had manager Damon Topolie hurling wine bottles against the clubhouse walls afterwards.
One of the few bright spots in the game was an 8th inning grand slam hit by rookie of the year contender Aidan McAskie. That made the score a slightly more respectable 14-8, but that was the FINAL as Hernandez took his first IBL loss.
London 14 9 3
Toronto 8 9 5
W - Arias (7-0, 1.29)
L - Hernandez (1-1, 2.57)
The 16-12 Leafs are tied for 4th in the IBL standings with the Barrie Baycats, 5 1/2 games behind the Welland Jackfish.
The week ahead:
Friday, July 22 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals, 7:35 pm at Bernie Arbour Stadium
Sunday, July 24 - Guelph Royals vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 pm at Christie Pits
No comments:
Post a Comment