IN A CRACKERJACK AFFAIR AT CHRISTIE PITS, TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS PULL AWAY FROM THE ATHLETICS IN THE LATTER INNINGS TO TAKE HOME THE CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE
Tournament Game Post composed with file from Dora Parks and Paul Ungerman
Beneath a pristine blanket of warm and tranquil skies, the Toronto Playgrounds Major Mosquito Selects defeated the Annette Black 8-3 in seven innings tonight at Christie Pits Diamond 3 to win the 2019 Richmond Hill Phoenix Baseball Club Mosquito Select Tournament Championship.
[Due to a rainout on May 25 at the Richvale Athletic Facility, which forced the postponement of all Saturday games at the Richmond Hill Tournament, the championship game was rescheduled to this evening at a new locale (Christie Pits) to accommodate both teams. Please click on the following link to view a tournament game report on TP’s journey to the championship game.]
The championship proceeding was a well played crackerjack contest between two talented teams. In the end, a gritty TP squad pulled away from a pesky Athletics team in the latter innings to take the prize.
TP went down in 1–2-3 fashion in the top of the first when Annette starter Lochlan (19) tallied a strikeout and a groundout.
Lochlan also received a sweet defensive play from his friends during the inning. With a one out and a TP baserunner on base at first, A’s catcher Thomas (24) made a rocket throw to his shortstop to thwart Charlie’s bid to steal second in a nifty 2-6 putout play.
Annette threatened in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter Thomas singled and made his way into scoring position at third base courtesy of a groundout and passed ball.
Unperturbed, TP starter Milo (27) found the groove and recorded a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to leave Thomas stranded.
With two outs and a runner at third, TP second baseman Rocco (99) went deep into the hole to vacuum up a hard hit grounder and made a laser toss to first baseman William (33) to rob Josh (42) of a RBI hit and tally a Gold Glove 4-3 putout to bring the curtain down on the first inning.
In the top portion of the second, TP drew first blood when they scored a pair to stake themselves to an early 2-0 lead. After a leadoff double by Milo, Dylan stroked a single that put two mallards on the pond. With one out, Julian (20) delivered a RBI single that advanced Dylan to third and brought Milo home with the opening run of the game.
Toronto Playgrounds quickly executed a double steal that saw Julian advance to second and brought Dylan home to crow.
Shaken, but not stirred, A’s starter Lochlan (19) chalked up three strikeouts in the second inning to subdue the TP insurgency.
With 1-2-3 efficiency, TP starter Milo tallied a groundout and two strikeouts in the bottom of the second to keep Annette off the scoring ledger.
Tit for tat, Annette starter Lochlan returned the favour in 1-2-3 fashion in the top half of the third when he recorded a pair of groundouts and a pop out to keep TP off the scoresheet.
After issuing a leadoff single to Eamon (7), TP starter Milo rang up three consecutive strikeouts to keep the Athletics off the scoreboard.
TP tacked on a run in the top of the fourth to stretch their advantage to 3-0. With Milo on second after hitting a double, Dylan followed with a 5-3 groundout that advanced Milo to third. On the play, the A’s defence committed an error that allowed Milo to motor home with a run.
Annette reliever Josh tallied a groundout and strikeout in the fourth frame to quash the TP mutiny. Josh also received a nice 8-2 putout play from his D to ring up the first out.
Refusing to go quietly into the night, the Athletics rallied for a pair in the bottom of the fourth to slice and dice the gap to one. After a leadoff single by Thomas, Lochlan stroked a one out single that put two otters on the lake. Josh followed with a two RBI single that allowed Thomas and Lochlan to come homeward and trim the margin to 3-2.
Digging deep into his reserves, TP starter Milo rang up three strikeouts in the fourth to extinguish the A’s rebellion.
Clinging to a slender tenderloin one run lead, Toronto Playgrounds answered Annette’s salvo by scoring four in the top of the fifth to increase their lead to 7-2. Following respective walks by Aron (14), Sean (13) and Momo (18) that loaded the bases, Charlie stepped into the batter’s box and delivered a bases clearing three RBI triple to bring them home.
Subsequently, with two outs and a runner on third, Milo stroked a clutch RBI single to plate Charlie.
With one out, Athletics reliever Benjamin entered the fray from the bullpen in the fifth frame to tally a flyout and strikeout to subdue the TP insurrection.
Not amenable to their circumstance, the pesky A’s continued to battle doggedly in bottom half of the fifth. Following respective walks by Eamon and Luke (27), Julian (20) was hit by pitch to load the bases.
Unfazed, TP reliever Dylan found his mojo in the fifth inning and chalked up a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to vanquish the Annette threat.
A’s reliever Benjamin would tally two strikeouts in the top of the sixth to keep TP off the scoring abacus.
In the bottom of the sixth, Annette scored a run to trim the shortfall to four. After reaching base on a hit by pitch to open the inning, Benjamin stole second to get into scoring position. With one out, Josh delivered a RBI single to bring Benjamin home.
TP reliever Dylan would ring up a pair of strikeouts and a groundout in the sixth to curtail the A’s uprising.
Toronto Playgrounds added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. After Momo reached base on a catcher’s interference call to open the inning, Charlie stroked a single that put two ducks on the pond. Cooper (3) followed with a RBI single to bring Momo home to roost.
Subsequently, with one out and a TP runner on base at first, the Annette defence turned a pretty 4-6-3 double play to close out the top portion of the inning.
Donning their rally caps, the Athletics continued to fight in the bottom of the seventh. Lucas (3) stroked a leadoff single to keep Annette’s hopes alive.
With his eye on the prize, TP reliever Dylan tallied a strikeout, groundout and pop out in the seventh frame to bring the curtain down on the championship victory.
The Toronto Playgrounds Baseball Committee wishes to congratulate TP Major Mosquito Head Coach Garth Nichols and Assistant Coaches Eugene Winer, John Zilcosky and Lubo Brezina for their fortitude and patience in steering these talented Major Mosquito Selects to championship glory at the Richmond Hill Tournament.
The Committee also wishes to commend all the Major Mosquito Select players, coaches and parents for representing the core values of the Toronto Playgrounds Baseball program with honour, dignity and professionalism both on and off the diamond at the tournament and throughout the 2019 season.
Way to go, TP!
