THE MIGHTY GIANTS PREVAIL OVER THE BIG RED MACHINE IN A THRILLER AT DOVERCOURT PARK
Beneath a sombre layer of cool and windy skies, the Giants edged the Reds 9-8 in four innings of Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball Peewee Division action this evening at Dovercourt Park.
Here is a Giants account of the proceedings courtesy of Roe Sivanandan
- On a cool Monday night, the Giants hosted the Reds in their first home game of the young 2018 Peewee Division regular season under the lights at the Dovercourt Park.
- In the top half of the first inning, Giants starter Sasha (10) pitched a gem of an inning with three up and three down effort to keep the Reds off the scoring ledger.
- Not to be outdone, the well coached Reds returned the favour in the bottom of the first when their starter blanked the Giants to keep the game scoreless.
- Pitching in a baseball game for the first time ever, Giants reliever Fisher (4) had a solid outing on the mound in the top portion of the second frame. However, some unforced errors by the Giants defence allowed the Big Red Machine to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
- In the bottom of the second, the Giants replied with a pair to slice the deficit to two. Jonas (1) ignited the rally when he belted a long ball to tally the Giants first HOME RUN of the season! Next batter: After stroking a single and brazenly stealing second and third on two consecutive pitches, ‘Speedy’ Nikhil (3) stole home on the fourth pitch to bring home the bacon. Shaken, but not stirred, the Reds pitcher settled in to shut down the Giants and preserve their 4-2 advantage.
- In a good first outing on the hill this season, Giants reliever James (8) pitched a fun-filled top of the third. However, the potent Reds batting order came out strong and added four to their total to widen their lead to 8-2.
- Not to be outdone, the Giants answered back with three in the bottom of the third to trim the margin to 8-5. After a pair of walks by Teo (6) and Euan (11), Lex (12) stroked a solid single to load the bases. The big hit of the inning came from Giants leadoff batter Elliott (14), who lined a three RBI triple into the deep dish portion of the centre field to clear the bases.
- The Big Red Machine was kept off the scoreboard in the top of the fourth by Giants closer Alex O. (15), who gave his team a chance at a comeback in the bottom half of the inning.
- After a leadoff walk by Max (13) and a solid single by Jonas put two ducks on the pond to open the bottom portion of the fourth, Nikhil delivered a groundout to move the runners into scoring position. Then Fisher took one for the team when he got hit by pitch to load the bases.
- With the bases juiced, James had an unusual swing at a pitch that resulted in a seeing-eye hit which went straight up the middle…with the ball evading the gloves of the Reds pitcher, shortstop and getting past the centre fielder, allowing the bases to clear. However, the Giants only scored two runs during the play, due to a catchers interference call on a Giants player by the home-plate umpire.
- Down 8-7, and with the rabid Giants fans in the bleacher seats cheering on for an exciting finish, Alex O. came up to bat with two outs, and delivered a solid grace under pressure RBI single to bring James home with the tying run.
- With the proceeding deadlocked 8-8, the Mighty Giants comeback (for the second game in a row) was completed when Alex O. used his speed and guile to steal second third (like ‘Speedy” Nikhil did in the second frame) before swiping home [with Andre (5) at bat] to steal a 9-8 win for the Giants.