Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - August 14 to 21, 2023
Week 14 of the IBL season saw the Leafs wrap up their schedule and ramp up for the playoffs.
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| Sunday at Christie Pits, Daniel Procopio's team-leading fifth win clinched fourth place and home field when the Leafs begin postseason play. |
The final week of the IBL regular season opened with the Toronto Maple Leafs' place in the top half of the standings under threat.
The Guelph Royals have enjoyed a resurgence in the later weeks of the season, climbing up from seventh to challenge for fourth. As luck would have it, the Leafs and Royals were scheduled to play a home-and-home series this weekend.
Doing themselves no favours, the Leafs stumbled into the weekend with a loss to the Barrie Baycats and a loss in Guelph, setting up a winner-take-all situation on Sunday.
As if a switch had been thrown, the Leafs bats came alive, their pitching got stingy, and they beat the Royals with ease in their regular season home finale.
It's been a season of building on the foundations of a ballclub that went to the championship series two years in a row. This year's additions to the core have added depth and primed the Leafs to peak at just the right time.
And now here's the recap of Week 14 in Toronto Maple Leafs baseball.
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 - Kitchener Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs - SUSPENDED GAME RAINED OUT
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| Fans and players seek shelter from the rain that suspended this game between the Leafs and Panthers on July 26. The Leafs announced that the game will not be resumed. |
Mother Nature has other plans for this game. Suspended by rain after one inning on July 26, the attempt to resume play on Tuesday night was washed out.
As the outcome of the game no longer has any bearing on the final standings, it will not be resumed. The Leafs made it official with an announcement yesterday. History will record that this game never ended, like something out of a W.P. Kinsella novel.
Thursday, August 17, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats
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| Fans went for cover and the Baycats went home with a win after five and a half innings on Thursday night. (image: Barrie Baycats TV) |
The elements, eternal and indifferent, continued to impact the final week of the season. On Thursday night, the Maple Leafs dropped a rain-shorted decision 5-1 at Vintage Throne Stadium.
It was the Leafs' Sam Greene facing the Barrie Baycats' Jeifry Nunez on the mound to start things off. Each pitcher surrendered a run in the first inning.
Shortstop Jose Vinicio led off the game with a double. Four batters later, third baseman Johnathan Solazzo hit a Nunez pitch that was played for an error at second base. Vinicio scored and the Leafs went ahead 1-0.
The bottom of the inning opened with a bit of symmetry, as former Maple Leaf Adam Odd reached base on an error at second base. Odd stole second, then scored on a single by Ryan Rijo. The game was tied 1-1 through one.
The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the fifth, when the Baycats seized the initiative. They scored four runs on four hits off Greene to take a 5-1 lead.
Toronto was unable to respond in the top of the sixth. As the bottom of the inning got going, the rains came and play was halted. Eventually the game was called after six innings. Nunez took the win and Greene the loss.
Toronto 1 4 1
Barrie 5 7 1
(6 innings)
W - Nunez (4-3, 4.36)
L - Greene (3-3, 7.17)
Saturday, August 19, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals
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| The Monarchs made life difficult for the Mapes Saturday night, with a win that brought the clubs to within half a game in the standings. (image: Guelph Royals YouTube) |
The Maple Leafs entered the season's final weekend with their place in the final standings still up in the air.
As of Saturday, their 19-19 record put them 1.5 games ahead of the 18-21 Guelph Royals. The Hamilton Cardinals lurked with an 18-22 record. Conceiveably, the Leafs could still crash down to sixth place at season's end.
They did not help themselves by losing a seesaw battle at Hastings Stadium against the very team giving chase.
The starters on the mound: Hector Yan for the homeside against IBL ERA leader Wilgenis Alvarado.
The obligatory first-inning-run-scored-by-Jose-Vinicio happened this way: Toronto's skinny shortstop singled, stole second, and scored when first baseman Jordan Castaldo grounded into a double play. 1-0 Leafs through one.
Alvarado kept the Royals off the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth. Malik Collymore doubled to open the inning, then came around to score on an error by third baseman Johnathan Solazzo. 1-1 through four.
The Leafs retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Left fielder Yoichi Ishihara singled, moved to second on a single by Vinicio, and scored on a single by second baseman Dan Marra. Yan was lucky to escape without any further damage as the Leafs left the bases loaded. It was 2-1 Toronto through five.
Alvarado gave up one more run in the bottom of the sixth, a home run by Collymore to tie the game 2-2.
Yan pitched five, Alvarado six. The game and its postseason ramifications were turned over to the bullpens. Guelph made the most of it, scoring twice in the seventh inning off Julian Tymochko. It was an ugly affair, with the Royals chalking up three walks. Runs scored on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. The Leafs found themselves trailing for the first time in the game, 4-2 through seven.
And the score would remain 4-2. Toronto was unable to get to the Royals pen. Yomar Concepcion grabbed the win, Yuki Narita got the save and Tymochko took the loss.
With three games left to play, the Leafs clung to a half-game lead over the Royals. Both teams would meet again less than 24 hours later, with Toronto hoping to stave off a crisis.
Toronto 2 3 1
Guelph 4 4 1
W - Concepcion (6-6, 6.33)
L - Tymochko (0-1, 13.50)
S - Narita (2)
Sunday, August 20, 2023 - Guelph Royals at Toronto Maple Leafs
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| Jordan Castaldo's two home runs powered the Leafs past Guelph in the regular season home finale. |
Crisis, what crisis?
On Sunday at Christie Pits, the Maple Leafs stomped the Guelph Royals 7-1. That clinched them 4th place and homefield advantage in the opening postseason round against these same Royals.
The day started hot and cooled as the afternoon went on. The Mapes stayed hot and won in convincing fashion.
They got to starter Brandon Deans in the bottom of the third. Right fielder Gregory Carrington led off with a grounder and beat the throw to first. He moved to second on an error, then scored on a single by catcher Justin Marra. First baseman Jordan Castaldo destroyed a pitch by Deans for a three-run homer. The Leafs were off to a 4-0 lead after three innings.
The Royals were held in check for most of the game. Daniel Procopio delivered another great start, pitching five shutout innings and giving up two hits while striking out six.
Second baseman Dan Marra led off the bottom of the sixth with a double. He moved to third on a single by left fielder Jesse Hodges, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carrington. 5-0 through six.
In the top of the seventh, Guelph scored their only run of the game off reliever Zach Sloan. It came on a bases loaded single by Brendan Keyes and made the score 5-1.
Castaldo struck again in the bottom of the seventh, launching a solo bomb over the right field fence. 6-1 Leafs through seven.
The Leafs added another run in the bottom of the eighth. Hodges doubled off reliever Claudio Custodio, moved to third on an error, and slid home on a sacrifice fly by centerfielder Connor Lewis.
That was more than enough. Adam Marra and Chris Nagorski each pitched an inning of relief, and much to everyone's relief the Leafs clinched 4th place. They will open their postseason campaign at home later this week.
Guelph 1 4 3
Toronto 7 9 0
W - Procopio (5-1, 4.92)
L - Deans (2-1, 3.63)
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Monday, August 21, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox (RESCHEDULED RAINOUT)
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| The Pride of Okayama Prefecture, the Maple Leafs' statistical unicorn, Yoichi Ishihara. (file photo) |
Bullpen game. Last chance for the fellas in the arm barn to get their innings in.
The Toronto Maple Leafs visited Arnold Anderson Stadium to play the final game of the regular season. Seven different pitchers took the mound for the Mapes and they made easy work of the Brantford Red Sox.
The visitors jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a 9-3 victory.
In the top of the second inning, the Leafs scored runs on singles by right fielder Gregory Carrington and shortstop Jose Vinicio. A bases-loaded walk to catcher Justin Marra brought in another run and the Leafs went up 3-1.
The Leafs doubled their score in the top of the third. A single by second baseman Dan Marra plated two runs, and Carrington added another RBI single to his tally. 6-2 Leafs through three.
In the top of the seventh, first baseman Jordan Castaldo singled in a run to make it 7-2.
The Leafs added two more runs in the top of the ninth, when two runs scored on a fielding error. The final score of the game was 9-3.
Evan Elliott opened on the mound for the Leafs. He gave up one hit and one run in one inning.
Dustin Richardson took over and pitched the second and third. He gave up one run on two hits while striking out four.
Julian Valdez pitched a perfect fourth.
Yoichi Ishihara went one better, pitching a perfect fifth and sixth. Ishihara ends the season as the Maple Leafs' statistical unicorn. The Pride of Okayama Prefecture is Toronto's very own Shohei Ohtani.* He ends the season as the team leader in both ERA (0.00)** and Batting Average (.360).***
Marek Deska pitched a perfect seventh.
Adam Marra pitched the eighth inning and gave up one run.
Chris Nagorski wrapped it up with a perfect ninth, and the Leafs flew home to prepare for the postseason.
* This distinction comes with loads of asterisks.
** He pitched all of three innings.
*** Over just 75 at bats.
Toronto 9 13 1
Brantford 3 5 2
W - Richardson (1-0, 7.83)
L - Stam (0-2, 16.20)
END OF REGULAR SEASON
The Maple Leafs finish the 2023 season with a record of 21-20. They finish 4th and will face the Guelph Royals in the opening round of the IBL Postseason. The quarterfinal series opens at Christie Pits on Thursday night.
Keep it locked here for the regular season leaderboard and a postseason preview.
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