Leafs Ride Noisy Horse to Take Series Opener

2022 IBL Quarterfinals - Game 1

August 26 - Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs win 5-3, lead the series 1-0

Angel Castro led the Leafs to victory in the series opener after waging a game-long battle with Barrie starter Frank Garces.

The Toronto Maple Leafs burst out of the gate and galloped to a 5-3 win in the opening game of their quarterfinal series against the Barrie Baycats.

Angel Castro, the noisy horse of the Leafs' rotation, dueled his counterpart Frank Garces in a game-long test of wills between the two Dominicans.

Their countryman Franklin Hernandez struck out the side in the 9th inning to seal the win before a boisterous Christie Pits crowd.

The Leafs came out swinging.  Shortstop Jose Vinicio and catcher Justin Marra led off the game with singles.  Right fielder Marcus Knecht rapped a single that scored both runners and landed him on second base.  Centerfielder Connor Lewis followed with a single that drove in Knecht and it was 3-0 Leafs after one inning.

Barrie struck right back.  An error and two singles loaded the bases, and a single by Juan Familia scored a run.  With the bases still loaded, Castro was called for a balk and another run came in to make it 3-2 through two.

The score remained that way as both starting pitchers battled through the opposing lineups.  There were plenty of hits and LOB's on both sides.

Throughout, when Castro was not on the mound he was engaged in his other role of chief disruptor.  He rallied his teammates with a steady stream of High Decibel Spanglish.  Sometimes it wasn't even words, just exuberant whoops and shrieks that jolted the entire park.*

In the 7th inning, a leadoff home run by Ryan Rijo tied the game 3-3 and the Barrie bench erupted in celebration.  However, the potential momentum swing was snuffed out by a double-play and a swinging strikeout to end the inning.

Vinicio struck again in the bottom of the 7th, with a single and two stolen bases.  Justin Marra followed with an RBI single and stolen base of his own.  He was driven in by Jordan Castaldo.  The first baseman's drive would provide some insurance as the Leafs retook the lead 5-3.

All night long, Garces endured a relentless storm of passive aggression from the Bushmen on the hillside, but he never quite broke.*  In the bottom of the 8th, Lewis almost blew the lid off the entire ballpark when he crushed a pitch deep to left field that just fell short of a homer.  DH Damon Topolie fought a nine-pitch battle with Garces before hitting a single and earning an even bigger roar from the crowd.  Vinicio took it further, battling Garces for eleven pitches before going down swinging.

Garces ended up going the distance through eight innings, and Castro attempted the same in the top of the 9th.  The starters combined to throw 281 pitches on the night, Garces with 144 and Castro with 137.

Noisy Horse got as far as the first batter, when he plunked Owen Jansen.  Hernandez was summoned from the bullpen, and he recorded three strikeouts to nail down the 5-3 FINAL for the home side.  Huge cheers from the faithful swirled around the Pits afterwards, seemingly for hours.

* Yelling, heckling and disruption come at you from all directions at the Angry Confines.

Barrie 3 9 1

Toronto 5 11 1

W - Castro (1-0, 3.37)

L - Garces (0-1, 5.62)

S - Hernandez (1)

BOXSCORE

The quarterfinal series continues later today in Barrie.  Game 2 at Vintage Throne Stadium goes at 4:00 pm.