A Delicious Win

Game 19: Toronto Maple Leafs at Burlington Herd, August 2, 2018 (rescheduled rainout)

Leafs win 5-3 (11 innings)

R.J. Page was hungry.

We were into the fourth hour of last night's ballgame at Nelson Park. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Burlington Herd had been deadlocked at 2-2 since the second inning. The night was dragging on with no end in sight.

The tenth inning had just wrapped up, still tied. Page made his way to the cooler behind the Leafs bench to assemble a snack. 

The game had started under partly cloudy skies with some flashes of sun. The Herd jumped on starter Justin Cicatello for two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Toronto got those two runs right back. First baseman/manager Damon Topolie led off the top of the second with a double. Centerfielder Zac Orchard was up next, and he reached safely when Burlington starter Trent Lunsford threw wild to first on a grounder. Topolie scored on the play. Orchard moved to third on a bunt by rightfielder Greg Carrington, then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 2-2 game through two.

Now, hours later, I watched as Page put some ham, lettuce, pickles and other good stuff on a nice bun.

It wasn't as if the Leafs hadn't had about a hundred chances to break the tie. Other than the second inning when they scored two runs, they had stranded runners on base every inning, racking up 14 LOBs through ten.

I don't believe in superstitions, jinxes or the other hoodoo that haunts an athlete's day from the moment they step out of bed, but something happened right after Page clapped those pieces of bread together.

Second baseman Dan Marra led off the eleventh with a walk, bringing leftfielder Justin Marra up to the plate. Justin worked the count to two balls and two strikes, then detonated the next pitch with his bat. The ball shot high into the night sky, soaring well over the right field fence. Orchard knew it was gone right away, and threw his hands up (above). A split second later, he and the rest of his teammates spilled out to welcome the Marras back to the bench. Page was beaming, for in his hand he held a new talisman of power -- the Rally Sandwich -- and it was delicious.

The inning wasn't over yet. Catcher Garrett Takamatsu doubled and came around to score on a single by Topolie. That made it 5-2 for the Leafs with the Herd down to their final three outs.

After his first inning hiccup, Cicatello kept Burlington off the board and departed after the seventh. Marek Deska, Dustin Richardson and Andrew Simonetti had combined to pitch three scoreless innings. Simonetti returned to the mound for the bottom of the eleventh. After the leadoff batter grounded out, the Herd got three straight singles and scored a run, but a double play ended the game for a 5-3 FINAL.

Simonetti got the win -- possibly the last one that the Leafs will ever notch at Nelson Park, as relocation rumblings have been coming out of Burlington in recent weeks.

Hopefully the Leafs will bring culinary provisions to every game from here on in.


Toronto 5-11-0
Burlington 3-8-2
(11 innings)

W - Simonetti (1-1, 3.75)
L - Bouillere-Howard (4-4, 5.48)


BOXSCORE


With a 15-19 record, the Leafs sit in a tie with the Guelph Royals for 4th place in the IBL standings. They return to Christie Pits this Sunday afternoon, August 5, for a makeup game against the Brantford Red Sox.