Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 25 to July 1, 2024
A week of changes ended the Leafs winless streak and offered hope for a turnaround halfway through the 2024 season.
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| Nothing is sweeter than a walk-off win at home, as the Leafs celebrate a comeback victory on Sunday at Christie Pits. |
Grasping for answers to a season-high losing streak, the past week opened with some grim news. After the post-game fracas that took place between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Hamilton Cardinals on June 23, the IBL issued some suspensions. One game for Connor Lewis. Ten games for Julian Johnson. Nothing for the Cardinals.
Midweek, news circulated that the Leafs organization had parted ways with general manager Jeff Lounsbury. As of now no new or acting GM has been announced.
There was barely enough time to digest these developments before the Leafs hit the road to Barrie and got crushed. Rock bottom had been struck.
Finding themselves in the gutter, there was nothing for it but for the Leafs to start the great reset.
Sunday at the Pits, they staged a comeback victory to end the losing streak. With the 2024 season half-over, let this be the moment when things turned around.
Here now is a recap of Week 7 in Maple Leafs baseball.
Thursday, June 27, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats
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| Lucas Alberti leaves the field and the Barrie Baycats celebrate after the final out of Thursday night's game at Vintage Throne Stadium. (Image: Barrie Baycats TV) |
Call this one a slow-motion blowout.
Thursday night in the great white north, the Barrie Baycats outplayed the Toronto Maple Leafs one inning at a time. They scored one or two runs in four different innings, culminating with a five-run eighth to seal an 11-0 win.
The Leafs committed four errors. They scattered five hits and a double off Barrie starter Juan Benitez and left 10 runs stranded on the bases.
Wilgenis Alvarado was victimized for his fourth straight loss this season. He pitched into the fifth and gave up five runs (two earned) off seven hits while striking out four.
With the loss, the Leafs' losing streak hit five games.
Toronto 0 7 4
Barrie 11 12 0
W - Benitez (2-0, 2.86)
L - Alvarado (0-4, 6.89)
Sunday, June 30, 2024 - London Majors vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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| Johnathan Solazzo salutes the Bushmen after hitting his club-leading sixth home run on Sunday. |
This home run derby was decided by a wild pitch.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the London Majors for a Day-Before-Canada-Day celebration. Christie Pits was festooned with Canadian flags, special issue red Leafs hats and jerseys were available at the merch tent, and other thematic hoopla played out during the afternoon.
On the diamond, things looked dire early on. With the Majors in town, there was no room for slackery. The Londoners proved that point in the top of the first inning, when Starling Joseph hit a two-run homer off starter Jesse Hodges.
Resplendant in their home whites, the Leafs cut the lead in the bottom of the second. Left fielder Ryan Dos Santos clouted a solo home run to make it 2-1.
As the now-cloudy, now-drizzly, now-sunny afternoon continued, a tit-for-tat battle ensued.
In the top of the third, Kaiden Cardoso hit a solo home run for London to make it 3-1.
In the top of the fourth, Victor Plaz hit a solo home run to make it 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Johnathan Solazzo hit a solo home run to make it 4-2.
In the top of the fifth, Eduardo de Oleo hit a solo home run to make it 5-2.
After pitching five innings, Hodges handed the ball to Taylor Lepard, who pitched a scoreless top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the inning, the Leafs put two more runs on the board. A sac fly by right fielder Marcus Knecht drove in a run, and then Solazzo bashed his second homer of the game. It was the seventh round-trip of the afternoon, but London still led 5-4 through six.
London starter Jose Arias pitched through the seventh inning, and swapped a scoreless frame with Lepard. Both bullpens took control of the game going into the eighth.
Sam Greene and Jonathan Henry each pitched a scoreless eighth.
The Leafs were down to their final three outs. Solazzo tried for a three-dinger game but flied out to center. Pinch hitter Chris Robinson got things going with a rambunctious double that lit up the crowd. Lucas Alberti came in to pinch-run. Santos flied out to center, bringing the Leafs to their final out. But this was the time of the great reset. Instead of going down meekly, second baseman Dan Marra rapped a solid single to bring Alberti home and tie the game 5-5. The Pits erupted and it was on to extras.
In the tenth, out came the ghost runners. The Majors and Leafs both moved their runner to third but neither was able to come home. The score remained 5-5 and it was on to the eleventh.
Top of eleven, Julian Valdez relieved Greene and got into a jam. Andrew Lawrence took his place as the ghost runner on second. Before the Majors could bunt him over, he stole third and put pressure on Valdez. A sac fly immediately plated Lawrence and the Leafs found themselves down 6-5, and a six-game losing streak staring them in the face.
But this is Canada and the home team wore Canada's emblem. In the bottom of the eleventh, Knecht took his place as the ghost runner. Solazzo hit a chopper to short and was safe at first. With runners on the corners, pinch hitter Gregory Carrington slapped a ball to right field. Knecht scored the tying run, Carrington made it to first, but Solazzo was caught at second for an out. To Carrington this mattered not, because he promptly stole second and put himself into scoring position. Dos Santos then hit a chopper to move Carrington to third. Tie game, two outs, the winning run on third. To the plate strolled Charlie Towers, looking to walk it off. It turned out to be the easiest walk-off of his career. Henry's first pitch was high for ball one. His second pitch was hit foul down the right field line. His third pitch sailed high to the backdrop. Carrington sprinted home and slid in safe with the game-winning run.
The Leafs charged onto the field and mobbed Carrington. Fist-pumpin', belly-bumpin' euphoria ensued on the diamond and throughout the Pits. Sensational stuff.
The visiting club, with four home runs to their credit, came away with nothing to show for it. All that remained before them was a two-hour bus ride back to Dullsville.
Canada needed this. We all needed this. What a fête.
The losing streak was dead and buried.
London 6 12 0
Toronto 7 9 1
(11 innings)
W - Valdez (2-1, 5.87)
L - Henry (0-1, 3.75)
Monday, July 1, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chatham-Kent Barnstormers
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| Johnathan Solazzo is welcomed home after hitting his fourth home run in two games. (Image: Chatham-Kent Barnstormers YouTube) |
On Canada Day, the Toronto Maple Leafs travelled for the first time to Fergie Jenkins Field, home of the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers.
Both clubs marked our nation's holiday by performing a re-enactment of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864. The Victorian-era conference was a summit of the leaders of Britain's various Canadian colonies. They met to discuss how to bring about the confederation of Canada. It dragged on for nine days. Confederation didn't even happen until three years later.
That was the vibe in Chatham. A long, slow slog. The only thing missing was the fancy lobster dinners that the fathers of confederation were said to enjoy each night. Perhaps they felt no rush to reach a conclusion.
One hundred and sixty years later in Chatham, the slog started early.
Aden Ryan opened for the home side and pitched a scoreless top of the first.
Angel Castro took the mound for Toronto and commenced one of his classic chaotic neutral* performances. Eight batters faced, three hits, a walk and two runs. It felt like a totally normal inning for Castro.
The Leafs responded in the top of the second. Their batting order was reshuffled again, with shortstop Jose Vinicio moving up to the two-spot in a Marra-less lineup. Toronto racked up four hits and two runs off Ryan to make it a 2-2 ballgame.
In the top of the third, seven Leafs came to the plate. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo led off with a solo homer and left fielder Ryan Dos Santos scored on an error. 4-2 Leafs through three.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Barnstormers' bus ran over Castro. Ten men came to the plate and five runs scored. It was 7-4 Chatham through four.
The Torontos got a run back in the top of the fifth when second baseman Charlie Towers hit an RBI single. 7-5 Chatham through five.
Top of the sixth, after Vinicio was caught on a delayed steal at second, Solazzo hit his fourth home run in two games. The solo bomb made it 7-6 Chatham.
Toronto completed the clawback in the top of the seventh. Chatham reliever Noah Richardson pitched himself into trouble, as two walks and an error loaded the bases. Another walk plated a run and the game was tied 7-7.
In the bottom of the seventh Marek Deska took over on the mound. The Barnstormers touched him for a couple of singles to take an 8-7 lead.
Deska surrendered another single to start the bottom of the eighth. He was relieved by southpaw Adam Marra, who recorded two outs. Gregory Carrington took over from there. Mitsuki Fukuda hit a grounder that was played for an error at short, and an insurance run crossed the plate.
Down by two runs, managed just a single in the ninth inning and went down in a 9-7 FINAL. The 25-hit, eight-error slog took three hours and fifteen minutes. Richardson grabbed the win and Deska took the loss.
* "A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free."
Toronto 7 15 4
Chatham-Kent 9 10 4
W - Richardson (3-0, 9.44)
L - Deska (0-1, 5.68)
S - Whitson (1)
After seven weeks, the Maple Leafs remain in eighth place in the standings, 9 1/2 games behind the Welland Jackfish and a half-game ahead of the Kitchener Panthers.
The week ahead:
Wednesday, July 3 - Kitchener Panthers vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 PM at Christie Pits
Thursday, July 4 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats, 7:35 PM at Vintage Throne Stadium
Sunday, July 7 - Hamilton Cardinals vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 PM at Christie Pits
