Maple Leafs Extra-Long Week Recap - August 15 to 23, 2022
The regular season wraps up and the Maple Leafs prep for a postseason run with a familiar face in a new place.
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| Reigning league MVP Garrett Takamatsu dons the manager's cloak for his first home game as Toronto Maple Leafs manager. |
And that's a wrap. Bring on the Baycats.
The Toronto Maple Leafs finished the 2022 regular season after an extra-long Week 14 thanks to a couple of rainouts on Sunday and Monday.
They end the season with a 24-18 record, and a new manager.
Garrett Takamatsu, the IBL's reigning MVP, began the season on the Leafs roster. He played in four games and batted .417 before joining the Frontier League's Quebec Capitales for a couple of months.
He was unable to make a planned return to the Leafs organization at season's end.
Regardless, the Leafs found a way to make sure Takamatsu could be part of the team heading into the postseason: he was immediately named field manager, the youngest in club history.
It's Tak's Army now.
Thursday, August 18, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Kitchener Panthers
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| Everybody watches Johnathan Solazzo's eighth-inning home run leave the park on Thursday night, his fourth bomb in two games. (Image: Panthers Baseball Online) |
The Kitchener Panthers gave Garrett Takamatsu a rude welcome to the managerial ranks.
Maple Leafs pitching was roughed up early and often. The Leafs rallied late but ran out of runway in a 15-8 loss at Jack Couch Park.
It was a bullpen game for the Leafs, as Dylan Jacober and Adam Marra each pitched four innings. Jacober gave up nine earned runs and Marra surrendered four. It was also a "National League" game for the Leafs, who went without a DH.
Toronto was kept off the board by starter Adam Robertson, who shut them out over five innings.
Reliever Ted Brimblecombe took the mound to start the sixth, and the Leafs began a late comeback. Centerfielder Connor Lewis singled, as did second baseman Dan Marra and first baseman Damon Topolie. Jacober then came to the plate, and reached safely on an error by Kitchener's third baseman. Lewis scored on the play to put the Leafs on the board.
Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo crushed a three-run homer in the 7th to make it a 13-4 ballgame.
Solazzo did it again in the 8th, smashing a two-run homer to make it 13-6.
Left fielder Gregory Carrington got in on the action with a two-run homer in the 9th, but the Panthers hung on for a 15-8 FINAL.
Toronto 8 12 2
Kitchener 15 17 1
W - Robertson (1-3, 11.51)
L - Jacober (4-1, 6.31)
Friday, August 19, 2022 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox
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| Marek Deska makes short work of the Red Sox in the ninth inning on Friday night. (Image: Brantford Red Sox YouTube) |
The Brantford Red Sox went crashing to the 38th defeat of their brutal 2022 season as the Maple Leafs won 9-3 at Arnold Anderson Stadium.
Garrett Takamatsu picked up his first win as skipper.
Starters Angel Castro and Danny Howat traded scoreless innings through four.
The Leafs put all niceties aside starting in the 5th. Second baseman Dan Marra led off with a double. DH Dawson Parks singled to drive him in. Howat then walked two to load the bases. Catcher Justin Marra hit a sac fly to score Parks and it was 2-0 Leafs.
Bottom of the 5th, the Red Sox put two runs on the board, one earned. 2-2 tie through five.
Right fielder Marcus Knecht tripled to lead off the top of the 6th, then scored on a single by centerfielder Connor Lewis. 3-2 Leafs through six.
Dustin Richardson relieved Casto for an inning plus, then turned the ball over to Marek Deska the rest of the way.
In the top of the 7th the Leafs pulled away for good. Left fielder Gregory Carrington doubled to lead off and scored on a single by shortstop Jose Vinicio, who moved to third base on an error and scored on a passed ball. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo singled next. He moved all the way to third when Lewis reached first safely on an error. Lewis then stole second. A single by Dan Marra drove in two more runs and that made it 7-2 Leafs through seven.
Justin Marra and Solazzo each drove in a run in the 8th.
Deska wrapped up the 9-3 FINAL with a pair of strikeouts in the 9th, as Leaf pitching compiled 17 K's on the night.
Toronto 9 12 1
Brantford 3 8 2
W - Richardson (1-1, 4.50)
L - Howat (0-3, 8.13)
Tuesday, August 23, 2022 - London Majors at Toronto Maple Leafs (rescheduled rainout)
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| Carrington on the mound? Why not, just one of many unusual sights at Christie Pits during the regular season finale. |
Here we are, the final game of the regular season. A rain-rescheduled Tuesday nighter at Christie Pits.
There was a last-day-of-school feel at the park. Some players were missing from the starting order either because of injury or work obligations. Manager Garrett Takamatsu had to shuffle some names into unfamiliar positions. Connor Lewis at second in place of Dan Marra. The outfield shift requiring Dylan Jacober to start in left.
With fourth place clinched and a postseason date with the Barrie Baycats already set, the Leafs had little to play for.
The visiting London Majors had everything from a pennant to a third place finish at stake. They came out swinging against starter Zach Sloan. They put one run on the board in the first inning, then exploded for ten more in the third for an 11-0 lead.
Trailing 12-0 in the bottom of the 4th, with fans chanting "No lead is safe!", the Leafs got to starter Owen Boon. Catcher Justin Marra, right fielder Marcus Knecht, Lewis (back at centerfield with the arrival of Dan Marra), first baseman Damon Topolie and left fielder Gregory Carrington all singled. Three runs went on the board and London led 12-3 through four.
Things got hairy after that. Play was halted in the 5th inning when a skunk wandered onto the field. Players and fans alike gave the critter a wide berth as it roved around before heading for wooded cover on the hillside. There was another skunk disruption in the 7th that required some gentle herding work by London players. Two skunks roamed into the outfield in the 9th, but play continued with London's outfielders casting them careful glances between pitches.
Other surreal images from the late innings included Dustin Richardson making a catch in left field and taking a few swings at the plate. Carrington, with three hits on the night, pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the player of the game title.
Despite the blowout there was a fun air to the night. Plenty of fans, kids, dogs, Bushmen and other beasts wrapped themselves around the diamond, embracing their Leafs and enjoying themselves if not the score.
That, more than anything else, will be the thing most remembered years from now.
London 14 20 3
Toronto 4 9 1
W - Boon (10-0, 3.17)
L - Sloan (5-3, 4.80)
The Leafs finish the regular season with a 24-18 record, 7 games behind three teams tied for first place -- London, Guelph and Welland. London will play Guelph to determine the pennant winner, and Welland will end the season ranked third by way of tiebreakers.
The Leafs' quarterfinals series against the Barrie Baycats will begin on Thursday at Barrie. The complete series schedule will be posted shortly.
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