Baycats win 9-6
At Christie Pits, the final weekend of the 2016 IBL regular season ended with flying bullets and soaring bombs.
By now most people will be aware that there was a shooting at the park yesterday morning. Details have emerged over the last 36 hours and the suspect remains at large, but the incident did not dampen the atmosphere on the final day of the season.
What did dampen the atmosphere was an hour-long rain delay. It had rained hard in the morning, and it started raining again just before the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Barrie Baycats. Two batters in there was a downpour, bringing play to a halt and bringing the tarp onto the field.
Rain delays make for collegial times. Hillside fans bunched together under trees; family and friends hung out in their cars; the players hung out in their clubhouses; and the remaining crazies (me among them) clustered under the overhang outside the clubhouse building, trying to stay dry.
When play resumed, the eternal contest between Leafs and 'Cats resumed. It was a classic battle in which the lead exchanged four times. The teams combined for 23 hits, and eight home runs sailed over the fence.
Three homers were hit by Leafs batsmen: Jon Waltenbury, Sean Mattson and Justin Marra (above). For Marra, it was his 16th of the season, giving him an edge in the race for the 2016 IBL home run title.*
In the 9th inning, Barrie pounced for four runs to retake the lead for the final time. Toronto could not respond, and the visitors claimed a 9-6 victory.
* It was a short-lived edge. Tanner Nivins of the Kitchener Panthers hit a pair of home runs later in the evening to win the title with 17.
Game Recap:
The skies were grim this day my friends.
Rain, and a lot of it, came down from the morning hours. After a respite, the rains returned to Christie Pits just as the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Barrie Baycats got underway. After a one hour delay, the field was deemed playable by the umpires and the teams returned to the field before a sparse crowd.
Brett van Pelt was on the mound for Toronto, and he got into some early trouble. He had issued a one-out walk to shortstop Kyle DeGrace prior to the rain delay. When play resumed, DeGrace stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error on the attempt. Rightfielder Jeremy Walker advanced to first on another error, allowing DeGrace to score and give the Baycats an early 1-0 lead.
Toronto equalized in the bottom of the inning, when catcher Justin Marra smashed his 16th home run of the season.
After a scoreless 2nd, there was some more scoring in the 3rd. DH Kyle Nichols hit a solo home run that made it 2-1 for Barrie. In the bottom of the inning, Justin Marra led off with a double off Barrie starter Matthew St. Kitts. Third baseman Sean Mattson followed by drilling a 2-run homer. Later in the inning, shortstop Ryan White drew a walk, then scored on a loud double by rightfielder Brendan Keys. That made it 4-2 Leafs through three.
After a scoreless 4th, Barrie retook the lead in the 5th. Third baseman Kevin Atkinson led off with a single, and centerfielder Jeff Cowan drew a walk. That brought catcher Zach Sardellitti to the plate, and he launched a 3-run home run off of van Pelt. A single and two walks later, the bases were loaded and Adam Marra came in to pitch. He induced a pair of outs to get out of the inning, but Barrie led 5-4 after five innings.
Marra went on to pitch 3.2 innings of lights-out baseball.
In the bottom of the 7th, DH Jon Waltenbury smashed a solo home run off reliever Brett Lawson to tie the game 5-5.
In the bottom of the 8th, Adam Hawes relieved Lawson. Hawes gave up a single to Keys, who was replaced by pinch-runner Matt Blair-Brown. Centerfielder Connor Lewis was up next, and his routine single turned into a scoring play. A throwing error allowed Lewis to move to second, and Blair-Brown came all the way around to score. The Leafs were back ahead 6-5 going into the 9th.
Adam Garner came in to pitch the 9th inning for Toronto, and it started raining home runs. Atkinson hit a solo shot. After walking Cowan, Garner gave up a two-run shot to Sardellitti. Another solo shot by first baseman Jordan Castaldo made it 9-6 Barrie.
Chris Nagorski came on in the 9th. He surrendered a single to Mattson, but that would be all as the Baycats sealed a 9-6 FINAL and the regular season came to a close.
Barrie 9-12-1
Toronto 6-11-4
W - Hawes (2-0, 3.46)
L - Garner (2-1, 5.40)
S - Nagorski (5)
BOXSCORE
The Mapes finish the 2016 season with a 19-17 record, their first winning season since 2011. They clinch 5th place in the IBL standings and will face the Brantford Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs. The schedule is still TBC, but keep it locked here for updates and previews, my babies.
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