SELECT > TP Major Peewee Selects Cage Royal York 14-3

HOLDING A SLENDER 4-3 LEAD IN A TIGHT AFFAIR, TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS SCORES TEN RUNS IN THE FINAL TWO INNINGS TO PULL AWAY FOR THE VICTORY OVER THE CARDINALS AT CHRISTIE PITS

GRAND SLAM > With Royal York Cardinals catcher Jaden (44) and Umpire Nikola Lapenna looking on, Jake ‘the Snake’ (30) crushes a bases loaded home run shot to deep centre field to propel the TP Major Peewee Selects into a commanding 14-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

Under a blanket of tranquil blue skies, our Toronto Playgrounds Major Peewee Selects defeated the Royal York Cardinals 14-3 in four innings of Etobicoke Baseball Association (EBA) Select action this evening at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

Piper (13) powers a leadoff solo home run blast to deep centre field in the third inning. In three at bats, Piper sparked the TP offense by going 2 for 2 [single, home run, walk] with three runs scored and 2 RBI’s.

With resolve, Royal York staked themselves to an early 2-0 in the top of the first inning. With a pair of Cardinals on base, Mac (24) stroked a nifty 2 RBI one out triple that brought Nathan (33) and Joe (19) home to roost.

Shaken, but not stirred, TP starter Aaron (54) eventually found the groove and struck out three to quell the Cardinals insurgency and leave two baserunners stranded in the nest.

Feasting upon a delectable Royal York buffet offering of five walks and an error, Toronto Playgrounds answered back with four in the bottom half of the first to take a 4-2 lead. After Jonathan (19) and Leandro (10) drew back to back walks to lead off the frame, Piper (13) hit a RBI single that allowed Jonathan to scoot home and trim the deficit to one.

After Raymond (16) drew a walk to load the bases, Alden (7) stroked a grounder to second. However, the Cardinals first baseman mishandled the throw and the resulting error allowed Leandro and Piper to come homeward bound and give TP a 3-2 lead.

Alden (7) slides safely by the tag attempt of Royal York catcher Jaden (44) to complete a steal of home in the third to give TP a 7-3 lead.

Subsequently, after Jake (30) garnered a walk to reload the bases, Aaron would draw an one out walk that allowed Raymond to shimmy home with the Major Peewees fourth run.

At this juncture, with two TP baserunners aboard, Royal York reliever Daniel (12) entered the fray and struck out two to extinguish the TP uprising.

In the top of the second, the pesky Cardinals rallied with a run to slice the shortfall to one. After opening the inning with a walk, Jeremy (11) advanced to third on an error and stolen base. Sabastien (7) followed with a RBI sacrifice hit to plate Jeremy.

Cardinals reliever Daniel would mow down three with a John Deere D105 17.5-HP Single-Cylinder Automatic 42-in Lawn Tractor in the bottom of the second to keep TP off the scoresheet.

TP reliever Nigel (20) would retire the first two batters he faced in the top of the third on a 1-3 putout and a strikeout. Subsequently, with two outs, Royal York would put two runners aboard on a walk and a single.

It was at this moment where TP centre fielder Jordan (14) would make a spectacular diving Gold Glove shoestring catch to rob Marcus (23) of a sure fire RBI hit and bring the curtain down on the inning and preserve the slender one run lead.

With style and flair, Ethan (36) slides under the tag attempt of Cardinals catcher Jaden (44) in the bottom of the third to give TP a 8-3 advantage.

Exercising discipline at the dish, TP would send nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the third and score five runs to widen their advantage to 9-3. Piper led off the frame with a powerful solo home run blast to the deep dish pizza nether regions of centre field.

After Raymond was hit by pitch, Alden followed with a walk to put two ducks on the pond. Subsequently, both Raymond and Alden would come home to crow on a series of stolen bases to give TP a 7-3 lead.

With Ethan (36) on third after a one out single and a pair of stolen bases, Aaron would deliver a RBI single that allowed Ethan to make a highly stylistic slide at home to increase the lead to five. Nigel followed with a RBI double that allowed Aaron to come homeward.

With some solid D from his friends, TP reliever Nigel would retire the Cardinals in the top of the fourth on one strikeout to keep Royal York off the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the fourth, Toronto Playgrounds would add on five insurance runs to salt the game away. With two outs and the bases loaded, Alden drew a RBI walk that allowed Harris (12) to trot home with TP’s tenth run.

Jake followed with a majestic bases loaded four RBI home run blast to the deep galactic twilight zone of centre field that brought home Leandro, Piper and Alden before him.

After a bye week, the TP Major Peewee Selects (2-0) will resume play on the EBA Select circuit on Wednesday, May 25 when they play host to the Weston Wolverines at Christie Pits Diamond 2 at 6:30 p.m.