Missed Opportunities

IBL Quarterfinals - Game 2 - August 24, 2024

Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs

Barrie 4

Toronto 3

Barrie leads series 2-0

Leafs starting pitcher Wilgenis Alvarado heads to the clubhouse as the Barrie Baycats gather for postgame hi fives.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

It's an old saying that suggests a hero will emerge in times of great peril.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, the hero never showed.  Saturday night at Christie Pits, they went down to a 4-3 defeat in Game Two of their quarterfinal series against the Barrie Baycats.  Their 2024 season now hangs in the greatest of peril.

Unlike the previous blowout in Barrie, last night's game was a close affair.  The mound matchup was Wilgenis Alvarado for the home nine against Cesar Rosado (a name that inspired a night of food-based heckling from the Bushmen.)

In the top of the first inning, the Baycats picked up where they left off.  A double and a single immediately put a run on the board.

In the bottom of the first, the Leafs missed an opportunity to alter the course of the game.  With two men on and two out, third baseman Johnathan Solazzo hit a screamer to centerfield.  It was clearly going out but Canice Ejoh made a timely jump and catch to take three runs away.  It would be a frustrating night for Leafs hitters.  They got plenty of men on base but 10 of them remained stranded there.

Frustration on the diamond did not reflect the overall atmosphere at the Pits.  The organization pulled out all the stops for this playoff game.  During the player introductions, the entire Leafs team entered the field through clouds of blue smoke followed by fireworks.  A live DJ pumped out tunes all evening.  Hundreds of glow sticks were given away to fans, who created a moving light show on the hillsides as evening became night.  The show was capped off by Mr. Freeze, who finally won his first race of the season, outsprinting Leaside Baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Armstrong to thunderous acclaim.  My eyeball estimate would say there were approximately 31,000 people in attendance.*

The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fifth.  A walk, a couple of wild pitches and a single scored another run for Barrie.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mapes got one back.  Right fielder Marcus Knecht led off with a double.  Solazzo walked and both runners advanced on a sac bunt by left fielder Ryan Dos Santos.  The next man up was DH Mike Cecchetto, who hit a grounder that was bobbled by an infielder.  The throw home was not in time to keep Knecht from scoring.  That made it 2-1 Barrie through six.

Alvarado left nothing in the tank.  He battled into the eighth inning, threw 113 pitches and gave up four runs on seven hits.  He struck out 12 and walked two.  Dustin Richardson completed the eighth inning for Alvarado, but was unable to prevent two inherited baserunners from scoring.  A two-RBI double off the bat of Hayden Jaco pushed the Baycats' lead to 4-1.

The urgency of the situation made it feel like the game flew by.  Julian Valdez pitched a scoreless top of the ninth and all of a sudden the Leafs were down to their final three outs.  Second baseman Dan Marra led off and was hit by a pitch from reliever Carlos Sano.  The next two batters were retired, bringing catcher Justin Marra to the plate.  Justin worked the count full, then lit up the Pits by hitting a two-run homer to right.  The ball bounced all the way to the little league infield, pursued by a mob of kids.  Sensational!  A momentum shift was in the offing, but a night of frustration ended that way.  Knecht came to bat next, but Sano struck him out swinging to end the game.

The FINAL score was 4-3.  Missed opportunities were the story for the Leafs and this series is all elimination games from here on in.  They will need to win three in a row to advance to the semifinals.

* I am atrocious with numbers, so it may be a bit off.

Barrie 4 9 2

Toronto 3 5 2

W - Rosado (1-0, 1.28)

L - Alvarado (0-1, 4.90)

S - Sano (1)

BOXSCORE

Game 3 of this series goes today in Barrie with a 3:05 pm start.  Sam Greene will be on the mound for Toronto looking to launch an epic comeback for the Leafs.