SELECT > TP Major Peewee Selects Top Martingrove 8-4


IN A TOTAL TEAM EFFORT, TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS SNAPS A 4-4 TIE IN THE THIRD INNING TO PULL AWAY FOR AN EBA SELECT LOOP SEASON OPENING WIN OVER THE WHITE SOX AT CHRISTIE PITS

Clockwise from top: TP Major Peewee starter Ben (4) pitched two scoreless innings where he struck out five White Sox; Aaron (54) slides under the tag attempt of Martingrove second baseman Max (14) to put a bow tie on his mammoth RBI double in the first inning that put TP into an early 1-0 lead; With the game knotted 4-4, Ethan (36) slides home safely on a daring steal of home to propel TP into a 5-4 lead.

Clockwise from top: TP Major Peewee starter Ben (4) pitched two scoreless innings while striking out five White Sox; Aaron (54) slides under the tag attempt of Martingrove second baseman Max (14) to put a bow tie on his mammoth RBI double in the first inning that put TP into an early 1-0 lead; With the game knotted 4-4, Ethan (36) slides home safely on a daring steal of home to propel TP into a 5-4 lead.

Under a ceiling of cool and pristine skies, our Toronto Playgrounds Major Peewee Selects defeated the Martingrove White Sox 8-4 in three innings of Etobicoke Baseball Association (EBA) Select Loop play this evening at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

With the proceedings tied 4-4, Ethan (36) executed a daring steal of home in the bottom of the third to give TP a 5-4 lead.

Exercising patience at the plate, TP drew six consecutive walks with two outs to tack on three insurance runs to salt away the victory. With the bases loaded, Zenon (9), Piper (13) and Alden (7) drew respective RBI walks that allowed Leandro (10), Nigel (20) and Harris (12) to come home to roost.

With White Sox catcher Charlie (11) and umpire Jerome Goddard looking on, Piper (13) is poised to crush a RBI triple to the left-centre field gap to bring Zenon (9) home and give TP a 3-0 lead.

With White Sox catcher Charlie (11) and umpire Jerome Goddard looking on, Piper (13) is poised to crush a RBI triple to the left-centre field gap to bring Zenon (9) home and give TP a 3-0 lead.

With both teams playing in their respective season opening games for the 2016 EBA Select regular season, the proceeding was an entertaining affair right from the get go.

Martingrove threatened early in the top of the first inning after leadoff batter Matteo (17) and Charlie (11) drew walks to put two ducks on the pond. However, TP starter Ben (4) eventually found the groove and struck out three to extinguish the threat and leave the bases stranded.

In the bottom of the first, TP scored a pair to take an early lead. After Jake (30) led off the frame with a walk, Aaron (54) launched an one out RBI double to deep left field that allowed Jake to motor home with the first run of the game.

With two outs and Aaron standing at third after a stolen base, Leandro muscled a grounder to second base. However, the White Sox first baseman committed an error on the play that allowed Leandro to reach base and permitted Aaron to scoot home to give TP a 2-0 advantage.

The Martingrove batting order threatened again in the top half of the second by loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batsman. TP starter Ben helped his cause mightily by using a medicinal dose of pitching guile to mow down two.

With two outs and the bases juiced to the gills, Matteo of the White Sox powered a shot to the gap in the left centre. However, TP left fielder Raymond (16) saved the day by racing over like a jaguar to make a shoestring catch and record the third out.

As TP third baseman Jonathan (19) takes receipt of the throw from catcher Piper (13), Quinn (21) of the White Sox successfully steals third to spark Martingrove's four run rally in the third inning to tie the game 4-4.

As TP third baseman Jonathan (19) takes receipt of the throw from catcher Piper (13), Quinn (21) of the White Sox successfully steals third to spark Martingrove’s four run rally in the third inning to tie the game 4-4.

The Toronto Playgrounds offense continued to click in the bottom of the second when they added two more to the tally to stretch their lead to 4-0. With one out and a runner on base, Piper crushed a RBI triple to the gap in left centre field that allowed Zenon to blaze homeward. Alden followed with a RBI single that allowed Piper to come home to roost.

Refusing to surrender, the potent Martingrove offense exercised patience at the dish in the top of the third by taking advantage of five walks and a pair of timely hits to score four and tie the proceedings. With one out and the bases loaded, Steven (77) delivered a 2 RBI single that allowed Quinn (21) and Charlie to come homeward bound and slice the deficit to two.

After Max (14) drew a walk to reload the bases, Cristian (19) followed with a RBI single to plate Aaron (2) and make it a one run game. Then Matthew Z. (10) drew a RBI walk that allowed Steven to shimmy home with the tying run.

And it was at this juncture in the game where Ethan led off TP’s bottom of the third with a walk and a pair of stolen bases to put himself into position to score the Major Peewee Selects winning run over the White Sox.

EXTRA INNINGS: Kudos to Martingrove right fielder Matthew (11) for making a spectacular diving shoestring catch on a dying quail in the bottom of the third inning to rob TP’s Jordan (14) of a sure hit and chalk up the second out of the frame.