Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 5 to 11, 2023
The Leafs dropped a pair on the road but bounced back at the Pits to continue their hot start to the season.
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| Johnathan Solazzo hits another widowmaker into the skate park at Christie Pits on Sunday. Solazzo's home run and RBI numbers lead the Leafs and place him among the league's leaders. |
One month into the 2023 IBL season, the Welland Jackfish are the hottest team in the league.
Since dropping their first two games, the Fish are on a nine-game winning streak and they have outscored their opponents by 42 runs.
Right behind them are the Toronto Maple Leafs with their twin weapons of lumber and charisma. The Leafs have scored more runs than any other club and they sit two games back of Welland in the standings.
After wrapping up their week-long series with the Hamilton Cardinals with a loss in the Hammer, the Leafs rolled into Welland for another bigtime matchup. And they got smoked. Welland slapped them around the pond and established themselves as The Team To Beat.
The Leafs returned to Christie Pits and took their frustrations out on the Guelph Royals, who have not enjoyed the best of starts to the year. All told, the Leafs continue to ride high in the standings. The offence is there, the defence is there. If the pitching gets there, they could become The Team To Beat by the end of 2023.
And now here's the recap of Week 4 in Toronto Maple Leafs baseball.
Friday, June 9, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals
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| Colby Ring, big Leafs fan. The Hamilton Cardinals ace won two consecutive Friday starts at home against Toronto, giving up five runs over eleven innings of work. |
Toronto Maple Leafs baseball. Sensational, irresistible!
After another long week in the saddle I was jonesing to see those marvelous Mapes back in action. Friday night in Hamilton, they played their first game since Sunday, in the rubber match of three in a row versus the Cardinals.
It was a classic see-saw battle with multiple lead changes. In the end, the Cards bullpen held firm while Toronto's did not, and the Leafs dropped a closer-than-it-looks 14-5 decision.
In the first inning, the visitors took the lead thanks to a two-run home run by left fielder Ryan Burnside. The former Card's effort was greeted with loud cheers from some boisterous locals. Bernie Arbour's place is a friendly ballpark.
The Leafs' lead was short-lived. Starter Julian Valdez coughed up four runs, including a two-run homer by Clayton Keyes, and the Cards led 4-2 after one inning of play.
In the top of the fourth, third baseman Johnathan Solazzo hit his fifth bomb of the year, a solo shot that made it 4-3.
Top of the fifth, the Leafs retook the lead thanks to Jordan Castaldo. The first baseman drove in two baserunners to make it a 5-4 Leafs lead.
Valdez could not hold the lead. In the bottom of the fifth he was tagged for four more runs including a solo homer by Laine Renaud. 8-5 Redbirds through five.
Matters were not helped by the third team on the field. In addition to the many great improvements at Bernie Arbour, including food, booze, in-game entertainment and merch, a troupe of comedy clowns was brought out in umpires uniforms and subbed in. They made some hilariously bad calls throughout the night, usually at the expense of the visitors. It was quite a clown show. Each blown call prompted disbelief, jeering, and umps turning tail in embarrassment.
Ultimately, the Leafs bullpen could not get it done. Hamilton racked up six runs over the final three innings off relievers James Wilson (two runs), Ryan Wells and Chris Nagorski (four runs). The final score was 14-5 and Valdez took his first loss of the season.
Toronto 5 8 2
Hamilton 14 15 1
W - Ring (2-1, 3.37)
L - Valdez (1-1, 5.75)
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Saturday, June 10, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish
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| Sam Cawker crushes one towards his scoreboard likeness at Welland Stadium, part of a sixteen-run assault endured by the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. (image: Welland Jackfish YouTube) |
On Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs exploded for seven runs in the final two innings at Welland Stadium.
That brought them to within eight runs of the unassailable lead that the Jackfish had built up prior to that. Woof!
Sam Greene and Zach Sloan each pitched three innings for the visitors. Greene was tattooed for eight earned runs and Sloan gave up seven. Adam Marra pitched the final two innings and he too gave up an earned run. Not a pretty night on the mound for the Mapes.
At the plate, left fielder Ryan Burnside led the way with three RBIs for Toronto. Centerfielder Yoichi Ishihara drove in a pair. Second baseman Dan Marra, pinch hitter Brandon Sekulovich and right fielder David Alvarez each drove in one.
Toronto 8 11 1
Welland 16 19 2
W - Harford (2-1, 3.60)
L - Greene (2-1, 5.57)
Sunday, June 11, 2023 - Guelph Royals at Toronto Maple Leafs
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| On Sunday at Christie Pits, Ryan Wells scooped up his first win of the season in relief of Dan Procopio. |
Slugaroo! Slugarama! Slugpocalypse!
The bats were out in force yesterday, as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Guelph Royals went at it to the tune of 36 hits and 24 runs scored.
The hometown boys took advantage of two six-run innings to lock in a 14-10 victory.
Starters Dan Procopio for the Leafs and Kyle Thomas for the Royals were evenly matched to start the game. In the first two innings, Procopio gave up three runs and Thomas gave up two.
In the bottom of the first, a sac fly by first baseman Jordan Castaldo put the Leafs on the board, and a solo home run by third baseman Johnathan Solazzo made it a 2-2 ballgame.
The Leafs put together a fantastic rally in the bottom of the third to ruin Thomas's day. Seven straight hits put six runs on the board and the Leafs were on their way in front of a lively Christie Pits crowd. They enjoyed an 8-3 lead through three.
Procopio gave up two more runs in the fourth inning, and got tagged for two more in the fifth as the visitors crept to within a run of the Leafs. Ryan Wells relieved Procopio and got out of the inning with the Leafs holding an 8-7 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Leafs launched another six-run barrage to pull away for good. DH Justin Marra and left fielder Jesse Hodges each homered. Toronto recorded eight hits in the inning, including another string of seven in a row to frustrate the Royals. After six it was 14-7.
The seventh inning belonged to Toronto reliever James Wilson. Guelph scraped him for three runs off three walks and a hit, but that would be all the scoring on this day.
Wilgenis Alvarado pitched scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to seal a 14-10 win for the Leafs and end their brief two-game losing streak.
Guelph 10 16 0
Toronto 14 20 0
W - Wells (1-0, 4.50)
L - Thomas (0-3, 10.56)
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At the end of week four, the Maple Leafs have an 8-5 record and they hold second place in the IBL standings, two games behind those red hot Welland Jackfish.
The week ahead:
Wednesday, June 14 - Barrie Baycats vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits
Friday, June 16 - Toronto Maple Leafs at London Majors, 7:35 pm at Labatt Memorial Park
Sunday, June 18 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 pm at Christie Pits
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