THE IVY RANGERS TAKE DOWN TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS IN A SEMI-FINAL SHOWDOWN AT THE MCCULLEY DIAMOND COMPLEX
Under a blanket of warm and pristine summer skies, the Ivy Rangers defeated the Toronto Playgrounds Minor Peewee Selects 6-1 in a seven inning semi-final game this morning at the Muskoka Cup Tournament in Huntsville.
Here is a brief recap of the proceeding courtesy of Marco Bianchi:
- It was a tight as a drum 2-1 affair with TP keeping it close until Ivy pulled away in the sixth.
- TP starter Theo (17) threw 4.1 innings of one run ball before handing it over to the bullpen, which allowed the Rangers to score five runs.
- Ivy’s ace starting pitcher and slugger put the Rangers ahead for good with a two run home run blast over the left field fence in the sixth to turn a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 advantage.
- Over the course of five innings of one run ball, Ivy’s starting pitcher overpowered the TP batting order. A strong relief effort from the Rangers bullpen kept TP off the scoring ledger in the latter two frames.
- Ivy’s 6-1 semi-final victory avenged a 14-10 loss to TP at the Innisfil Tournament last year, in which the Rangers blew a 7-0 lead to TP.
Despite the semi-final loss, Toronto Playgrounds had a fun and productive weekend at the tournament by finishing the round robin qualification phase with a 2-1 record.On Friday evening, TP began its journey at the tourney with a nail biting 10-9 victory over the Midland Twins.With the wind in their sails, TP rolled to another thrilling round robin victory on Saturday morning when they edged the Muskoka Hornets 8-7.
Later on Saturday afternoon, the Milton Mets defeated TP 8-4.
With a 2-1 record after round robin play, TP finished first in its tournament pool (Pool B) and fourth overall in the standings amongst the twelve teams participating in the tourney.
As a result, TP qualified for a semi-final game against the Ivy Rangers, who finished the round robin in their pool with a 2-0-1 record.
After their semi-final victory over TP, the Rangers would fall 11-10 to the Orangeville Bengals in the championship game.
The TP House League Baseball Committee wishes to commend Minor Rookie Ball Select Head Coach Marco Bianchi and fellow Assistant Coaches Mark Higgins, Andrew Larsen and Adin Wener for their fortitude and patience in steering these talented Minor Peewee Selects to a semi-final appearance at the Muskoka Cup Tournament.
The Committee also wishes to thank all the Minor Peewee Select players, coaches and parents for representing the core values of the Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball program with honour, dignity and professionalism, both on and off the diamond at the tournament, and on the EBA Select Loop circuit during the course of the 2017 season.
Way to go, TP!