On the Christie Hillside: Shake, Battle and Roll

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 3 to 9, 2024

A shakeup in the batting order sparked the Toronto Maple Leafs to another winning week as they wrapped up the first month of the 2024 IBL season.

Jordan Castaldo's move to the top of the order lit a fire under the Maple Leafs' offence this week. Castaldo's six hits and four runs sparked similar outbursts from his teammates.

Sluggish, lethargic, torpid. Google thesaurus has all kinds of ten-dollar words to describe the Toronto Maple Leafs' offence of late.

The fact is, the boys in various shades of blue have been slow out of the gate, with a run differential among the bottom of the league.

It was time for a shakeup, and that's what manager Rob Butler did.

The Leafs entered their latest slate of games with a new name in the leadoff spot: Jordan Castaldo. He took over for Jose Vinicio, who dropped down to seventh in the batting order.

The move had an immediate impact.

Over three games this week, Castaldo led the Leafs in an offensive revival (Google thesaurus: awakening, resurgence, turn for the better). The first baseman racked up six hits and four runs. Vinicio stepped it up from the seven spot with six hits and four runs of his own.

Honourable mentions go to Marcus Knecht with seven hits, a run and four RBIs, and Justin Marra, who literally got married last weekend and was back for all three games of this week's Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule. The catcher put up six hits, two runs and five RBIs over the weekend, and did designated hitter duty in the middle game.

Overall, it was a nice turnaround.

Keep your eyes on this Castaldo kid, he could be going places!

And now, here is a recap of Week 4 in Maple Leafs baseball.

Friday, June 7, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals

Marcus Knecht pokes in the winning run in Hamilton. (All images from this game: Cable14Now.com)

Friday night on the Mountain in Hamilton, it was a back and forth battle between the Cardinals and Maple Leafs with the visitors taking it late.

A new look batting order featured first baseman Jordan Castaldo in the leadoff spot. He opened the game with a booming double to the fence off of starter Colby Ring. It was a nice loud note to open the game, even though Castaldo ended up stranded on base.

The Leafs took an early lead when catcher Justin Marra drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the second inning to make it 1-0.

Hamilton responded in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on four hits off of Wilgenis Alvarado. 3-1 Cards after two.

Toronto immediately responded with three runs from three hits, including a two-run single by second baseman Dan Marra. Ring's night was over after three innings, and the Leafs led 4-3.

Tyler Duncan evened the score in the bottom of the third. He singled to start things off, stole second base, and scored on a single by Dennis Dei Banning. 4-4 through three.

Those pesky Redbirds took a lead in the bottom of the fourth, pecking Alvarado for a double and a single to score a run. 5-4 Hamilton through four.

In the top of the fifth, the Leafs tied it up again. Shortstop Jose Vinicio put on a mini-clinic. He singled, stole two bases, and scored on an RBI single by centerfielder Connor Lewis. 5-5 through five.

McMaster alumnus Julian Tymochko pitched a scoreless sixth for Toronto.

In the bottom of the seventh the momentum swung back in Hamilton's favour. They needlessly hassled reliever Greg Carrington with four hits and put up a pair of runs for a 7-5 lead. Chris Nagorski came in to finish the seventh and pitch a scoreless eighth.

In the middle innings of this game, reliever Takaki Eguchi had practically shut down the Leafs. Pitching the fourth-through-seventh innings, he held the visitors to just one run while striking out eight.

The Leafs were glad to see a new face on the hill to start the eighth. Connor Cory was victimized for two hits, a walk and a run scored off the bat of left fielder Ryan Dos Santos. 7-6 Cards through eight.

Down to their final three outs and facing Jacob Gajic on the mound, this new-look Toronto offence made it happen. Leading off (ironically), Vinicio hit a single. Dan Marra moved him to second on a sacrifice. Lewis drove him home with a single. A single by Castaldo put Lewis on third and a single by right fielder Marcus Knecht brought Lewis home and the Leafs were back ahead 8-7. Knecht's poke turned out to be the game-winner.

Dustin Richardson had seen enough and he was not in a playful mood. He took the ball in the bottom of the ninth and struck out three batters in a row to record his second burial of the season. Nagorski got the win, and the Leafs opened the weekend with an 8-7 FINAL.

This was all wildly entertaining and a massive shoutout goes to the crew at Cable 14 Hamilton for their coverage and amazing camera work. Local TV is awesome! Make it permanent!

Toronto 8 15 0

Hamilton 7 14 0

W - Nagorski (1-1, 4.69)

L - Gajic (0-1, 3.60)

S - Richardson (2)

BOXSCORE

Saturday, June 8, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals

Leafs backup catcher Dionysius Chialtas turns on the jets for a game-winning triple on Saturday in Guelph.

"Havoc at Hastings."

That was how the Guelph Royals' social media team described a wild Saturday afternoon at their home ballpark. Three of their own were ejected from the game and two late rallies gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 6-1 victory.

For the most part, it was a close affair.

Penciled into the leadoff spot for the second game in a row, first baseman Jordan Castaldo opened the game with a double. A ground out by DH Justin Marra moved him to third, and a sac fly by centerfielder Marcus Knecht brought him home.

The Leafs maintained their 1-0 lead on the strength of Marek Deska's start. Toronto's veteran hurler held the Royals to three hits and no runs over the first four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Guelph got a run across the plate, courtesy of an RBI double by Brando Leroux.

Jacob Kush pitched six strong innings for the home side before turning it over to Rhys Montgomery to start the seventh. That was where the Royals' day began to unravel.

With the game tied 1-1, the Leafs pounced on their former teammate. Second baseman Dan Marra singled to open the seventh, then scored on a roaring triple by catcher Dionysius Chialtas. A single by Justin Marra brought Chialtas home, and an off-field situation brought the game to a temporary halt.

Viewing what happened from the visitors' side of the field, this is the best I can make out:

After Chialtas scored to make it 3-1 Leafs, the home plate umpire ejected Guelph manager Dino Roumel with the familiar sweep of the wrist. Some "cussing" from the Royals' bench seemed to be the reason. Roumel walked onto the field to argue. It was a miscommunication, all a mistake, your mother wears army boots. On it went as Roumel's temperature soared. All to no avail. Roumel departed the field, then stormed back for a second round.

Royals outfielder Josh Garton inserted himself into the dispute and he also got tossed. Garton responded by tossing a box of balls onto the field and removing his jersey. Guns out, face red, he looked like he was ready to piledrive some chumps. The situation was veering hard from IBL to WWE. At that point, the umpiring crew left the field.

The Leafs observed the entire pageant with bemused looks. We all did. Was the game still on? Would there be a forfeit? As players from both sides stood around on the field, the umpires held a conference. After about five minutes they returned and play resumed.

After the turmoil, the Royals were unable to harness any anger to their advantage. In the bottom of the seventh, they touched reliever Max Lanoue for a single and a walk. Lanoue hunkered down and struck out three in a row to end the threat.

Lanoue handed the ball to Julian Valdez for the eighth inning. He retired the Royals 1-2-3 to send the game to the ninth with the Leafs ahead 3-1.

Brandon Deans took the mound to start the ninth for Guelph. The top of the Leafs' order went to town on him. A single by Castaldo. A walk by Justin Marra. Knecht then rapped an RBI double. With Justin on third, Deans uncorked a wild pitch and the race was on. Marra slid home at the same time Deans attempted a sweeping tag. The plate umpire called safe and Deans argued vociferously. The ump cemented his reputation as a hanging judge and immediately ejected Deans. Guelph's day continued to unravel. Knecht scored off the bat of right fielder Ryan Dos Santos to make it a 6-1 ballgame.

Valdez pitched a scoreless ninth to lock down the win for Lanoue. The Leafs concluded their road trip with a pair of wins.

A day after the game, Roumel issued a statement apologizing for his actions.

Toronto 6 10 1

Guelph 1 7 2

W - Lanoue (1-0, 1.17)

L - Montgomery (1-1, 3.00)

S - Valdez (1)

BOXSCORE

Sunday, June 9, 2024 - Welland Jackfish at Toronto Maple Leafs

A scene repeated too many times on Sunday at Christie Pits: a Welland batter rounding the bases after a home run.

Angel Castro is back.

For the first time since the final game of the 2022 IBL Championship Series, the former Oakland Athletic and former Toronto Maple Leaf, the disruptor, the motivator and the most impactful player we've seen in years, the Noisy Horse was back on the mound at Christie Pits.

And he got rocked.

Call it rust I guess.

After sorting out his diplomatic issues and returning to Toronto the long way via the United States, Castro made his first start of the season on Sunday at Christie Pits.

The Welland Jackfish tagged him for five home runs and swam away with a 7-4 victory. The homer barrage set the tone on a day when Christie Pits experienced multiple seasons over the course of three hours. It was cool and breezy to start the afternoon. After a couple of innings a vicious rainstorm halted play for about 20 minutes. After play resumed the rest of the game was played under grey skies until the final inning, when the sun came out to warm everyone's face.

The Leafs mustered 10 hits against six different Welland pitchers but it was not enough.

Apart from a double by centerfielder Marcus Knecht, the Leafs were limited to singles on the day. No one for the home side cleared the fences. RBIs were recorded by Knecht, catcher Justin Marra, left fielder Ryan Dos Santos and newly-signed outfielder Chris Robinson.

Castro took the loss on his return to the IBL, and the Leafs finished the weekend on a sour note.

Welland 7 11 0

Toronto 4 10 3

W - Underhill (2-1, 1.86)

L - Castro (0-1, 9.00)

S - Mendez (2)

BOXSCORE