On the Christie Hillside: July 2021

Monday, August 2, 2021

Nasty, Brutish and Short

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 26 to August 1, 2021

A rain-shortened fourth week of the 2021 IBL season saw the Toronto Maple Leafs on the winning and losing ends of slugfests

Outfielder Garrett Takamatsu led the Leafs at the plate last week with 6 hits, 4 RBIs and a home run.

Last week's Toronto Maple Leafs action can be summed up in three words.

On Wednesday night at Christie Pits, they clobbered the Kitchener Panthers for 18 hits and racked up a 14-6 win. Nasty.

The following night, the Leafs travelled up north and got a taste of their own medicine, getting rocked for 14 hits in a 16-6 defeat to the Barrie Baycats. Brutish.

Sunday was rained out to end the week. Short.

As seven clubs thunder past the one-third post on the 2021 IBL season, the standings remain close. The top four - Kitchener, London, Hamilton and Toronto - are separated by just two games.

As expected, the high-octane offence that Manager Damon Topolie has at his disposal has delivered.

Leafs batsmen lead the league in the following categories: hits (Garrett Takamatsu), runs (Jordan Castaldo), RBIs (Johnathan Solazzo) and home runs (Justin Marra and Takamatsu tied).

When the bats are bashing, it bodes well. As we saw this week...

Wednesday, July 28, 2021 - Kitchener Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs

Jordan Castaldo set the tone Wednesday night at the Pits with a leadoff home run.

It looked like this would be a wild one from the get-go.

Visiting Christie Pits for the first time this season, the Kitchener Panthers tagged Kyle Perrett with a three-run home run in the top of the first. The Leafs punched back with four runs in the bottom of the inning, as first baseman Jordan Castaldo launched the latest Christie comeback with a leadoff homer.

There commenced a back-and-forth battle that saw the Black Cats retake the lead twice, and the Leafs coming back to tie it again.

The second half of the game was all Toronto. Between the fifth and eighth innings they pounded out eight hits and eight runs. Second baseman Grant Tamane and catcher Justin Marra each homered in the eighth to put a bow on this win and put smiles on the faces of the sizeable home crowd.

Perrett surrendered a total of 10 hits and six runs, but he absorbed the body blows and stayed on his feet through five innings for his first win. Adam Marra pitched the final four in relief for his first save, and everybody but the Panthers went home happy.

Kitchener 7 13 3

Toronto 14 18 0

W - Perrett (1-0, 11.32)

L - Gade (0-1, 4.26)

S - A. Marra (1)

BOXSCORE

NOTE: A bunch of photos from this game is posted below.

Thursday, July 29, 2021 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats

Garrett Takamatsu completes a home run trot in what turned out to be a blowout loss at Barrie.
Image from Barrie Baycats YouTube

In recent years, the great white north has not been kind to the Mapes.

A familiar story unfolded up in Barrie on Thursday night. After a pre-game welcome-back tribute to Jordan Castaldo, who played part of seven seasons for the Baycats, things went downhill for the visitors.

Barrie jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. They battered Leafs pitchers Sebatian Khan and Andrew Hyde for a total of 14 hits over eight innings and ran up a 16-6 final score.

First baseman Castaldo treated the crowd at Coates Stadium to a solo home run in the third.

In the seventh, outfielder Garrett Takamatsu belted his fourth dinger of the season to tie him for the league lead with teammate Justin Marra. Behind that, the Leafs scattered 11 hits over eight innings and put up six runs in a rain-shortened loss.

Toronto 6 11 4

Barrie 16 14 1

(final in 8 innings)

W - Leishman (1-0, 3.08)

L - Khan (0-1, 11.25)

BOXSCORE

Photos below are from Wednesday night's game at Christie Pits.

After four weeks, the Leafs are 5-5 and two games behind the league leading Kitchener Panthers. Sunday's rainout means that the Leafs will go almost a week between games, before playing four in five days starting Wednesday.

The week ahead:

Wednesday August 4 - Kitchener Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits

Thursday August 5 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Kitchener Panthers, 7:30 pm at Jack Couch Park

Friday August 6 - Toronto Maple Leafs at London Majors, 7:35 pm at Labatt Park

Sunday August 8 - Brantford Red Sox at Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 pm at Christie Pits

Monday, July 26, 2021

Bullpen Blues and Sunday Solace

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 19 to 25, 2021

After losing a pair of heartbreakers, the Toronto Maple Leafs turned it around on Sunday

Marcus Knecht returned to the Maple Leafs on Sunday, and the home nine powered their way to victory.

In the leadup to the 2021 IBL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs assembled an all-star lineup of proven sluggers, OBP and RBI men.

Where they were still lacking, according to manager Damon Topolie, was pitching. With veteran starter Justin Cicatello stuck in the States because of international travel restrictions, and the bullpen still a work in progress, the pitching situation led to a couple of heartbreaks this week.

On Wednesday night, the Barrie Baycats' offence struck early, struck late, and the visitors hung on for dear life as another epic Christie comeback fell short by a run.

Saturday at Welland, it was the Leafs who hung on to a one-run lead before the Jackfish rallied for 4 late runs to take the win.

On Sunday, the Leafs offence was powered by home runs from Johnathan Solazzo, Marcus Knecht and Garrett Takamatsu, as they forged a win before the fans on the Christie hillsides.

As the IBL season approached the one-third post, no team looked to be running away with it, and the Leafs were within striking distance of first place...

Wednesday, July 21, 2021 - Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs

Adam Marra did well to limit the Baycats to just one hit and one run over four innings. The rest of the Leafs' pitching was... not so good.

Game of the season, so far.

It began as a blowout, and ended as an almost historic comeback. When the lights finally dimmed over Christie Pits Wednesday night, the Leafs were on the losing end of a 20-19 epic.

After two innings of play, the visiting Barrie Baycats had made themselves at home, racking up eight runs off of starter Michael Asta.

Adam Marra came on in relief to start the 3rd inning, and he quieted things down. Marra pitched four innings, giving up just one hit and one run.

Meanwhile, the Leafs began clawing their way back into the game. As the Bushmen led the chanting of "No lead is safe," the home side scored four runs to make it a 9-4 game through six.

Unfortunately, Toronto's short bullpen fell short. Marra turned the ball over to Kyle Perrett, who was savaged for seven hits and ten runs, six earned. In just one inning, Barrie had blown the game up into a 19-4 laugher.

And yet, and yet. The Christie Mystique is always palpable. No lead is safe.

The Leafs scored four in the bottom of the 7th.

Johnathan Solazzo, a true two-way player this season, made his second relief appearance and surrendered one run in the top of the 8th.

The Leafs then scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 20-18 game.

Solazzo held Barrie scoreless in the top of the 9th, giving the Leafs one last chance to forge a comeback for the ages. And they almost did it.

Sean Reilly hit his first home run of the season to bring the Leafs within one run, but the Baycats hung on by the tips of their claws. Brad Grieveson got through the inning to record the save and a 20-19 win for starter Juan Benitez.

Damon Topolie and Garrett Takamatsu both joined Reilly in hitting their first homers of the season, and Justin Marra hit his third. Takamatsu led the way with five RBIs. Reilly had four, Topolie, Grant Tamane, Jordan Castaldo, and Ryan Johnston each had two, and Marra's homer was a solo shot. With all that bashing the Leafs racked up 16 hits, but on this night 19 runs were not enough.

Barrie 20 19 3

Toronto 19 16 5

W - Benitez (2-0, 2.29)

L - Asta (0-1, 20.64)

S - Grieveson (1)

BOXSCORE

Saturday, July 24, 2021 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish

The Leafs took a lead into the eighth inning, when heartbreak struck.
Image from Welland Jackfish YouTube

The Leafs were singing the bullpen blues again Saturday afternoon in Welland.

The hot bat of left fielder Garrett Takamatsu put the visitors ahead in the 1st inning, when he doubled to drive home Jordan Castaldo with the first run of the game. Takamatsu then smashed a solo home run in the third to make it 2-0.

The Jackfish got one back in the bottom of the 4th, but starter Andrew Hyde and reliever Matthias Trondson kept it a 2-1 ballgame through seven.

In the bottom of the 8th, the Jackfish got the jump on Trondson. They touched him for five hits and three runs before Kyle Perrett was called in from the bullpen. Perrett gave up one more hit and a run and when the Pond finally stilled the home side was ahead 5-2.

The Leafs were unable to put any more runs on the board, and suffered their second loss in a row.

Toronto 2 5 3

Welland 5 11 0

W - Cameron (1-0, 4.69)

L - Trondson (0-1, 9.81)

BOXSCORE

Sunday, July 11 - Welland Jackfish at Toronto Maple Leafs

Marek Deska pitched three solid innings of relief to earn the win against Welland on Sunday.

In the home end of a home-and-home series against the Welland Jackfish, the Maple Leafs relied on solid pitching and power hitting to emerge victorious.

According to the template early this season, the Leafs had to surrender a few runs early.

The Jackfish scored three runs in the first inning off of Sunday starter Mateos Kekatos.

The Leafs responded with three runs in the bottom of the first, courtesy of a three-run home run by third baseman and early contender for league MVP, Johnathan Solazzo.

Welland put runs up on the board in the 2nd and 4th innings to give themselves a 5-3 lead.

Things got wild and tight in the bottom of the 5th, courtesy of Welland starter Jake Polancic. Leadoff batter Grant Tamane was hit by a pitch right between the numbers. With one out, right fielder Marcus Knecht's jersey was grazed by a pitch. The next man up, starting catcher Garrett Takamatsu, also got plunked and just like that the bases were loaded. Solazzo was the next man up, and he hit into a fielder's choice that scored Tamane, making it a 5-4 game through five.

Marek Deska took over for Kekatos in the top of the 7th, and he gave up a solo home run to DH Matt Hilderbrandt, making it a 6-4 game.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Christie Mystique took over and put the Leafs ahead. Facing Welland reliever Will Jackman, Knecht led off the inning with a solo home run. The next man up, Takamatsu, hit his third home run in three games. Tie game. With two outs, center fielder Chandler McLaren was hit by a pitch, and he advanced to second on a walk to catcher Justin Marra. Shortstop Dan Marra then grounded to the shortstop, who made an error, allowing the brothers Marra to reach first and second safely as McLaren scored the go-ahead run. 7-6 Leafs after seven.

From there on in, it was Deska's game to win, and he pitched two scoreless inning to lock down the win for himself and for the Leafs, sending the Sunday afternoon Christie Pits crowd home happy with a victory.

Welland 6 12 2

Toronto 7 9 2

W - Deska (2-0, 2.57)

L - Jackman (0-1, 4.90)

BOXSCORE