THE O’s SOAR OVER THE HALOS AT CHRISTIE PITS TO TAKE HOME THE CROWN
Beneath a duvet of warm and genteel September skies, the Orioles defeated the Angels 7-2 in 4 ½ innings of Mosquito Division Championship Game action this evening at Christie Pits Diamond 2.
The proceeding was an entertaining affair that was contested between two talented and well coached teams. In the end, the O’s prevailed with a combination of stellar pitching which neutralized the potent Halos batting order and an offence that made the most of its opportunities when they arose.
In the top half of the first, the Angels staked themselves to an early 2-0 lead. After a leadoff walk by Lucas (13), Jack (4) singled to put two otters on the pond. James followed with a groundout that brought Lucas home with the opening run of the game.
Following a pair of walks to Micha (2) and Milo (12) that loaded the bases, Dylan (8) stroked a RBI single to bring Jack home.Orioles starter Dash (7) would eventually find the groove in the first and chalk up a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to curtail the Halos insurgency.
Not to be outdone, the O’s struck back quickly with four in the bottom of the first to take a 4-1 lead. After Jeremy (6) drew a leadoff walk, Michael (3) cranked a two run home run blast to the deep dish pizza portion of centre field to tie the game.
Following back to back singles from Nikolas (2) and Dash that put two mallards on the lake, Luc (15) hit a groundout that allowed Nikolas to come to home to roost.
After a one out walk to Nathan (18) that put two aboard, Milo (11) stroked a RBI single to plate Dash.
In a spirited effort, Halos starter Robbie (10) tallied a
groundout in the first frame.
With 1-2-3 flair, Orioles reliever Nikolas (2) mowed down the Angels in the top of the second with three strikeouts while steering a John Deere D130 22-HP V-Twin Hydrostatic 42-inch Lawn Tractor.
Angels starter Robbie returned the salvo in the bottom portion of the second by striking out three to keep the Orioles grounded in their nest.
After issuing a leadoff walk, O’s reliever Jeremy (6) found the mojo to ring up two strikeouts and a groundout to keep the Halos off the scoring ledger.
The Orioles would strike for three in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 7-2. After a leadoff walk by Colston (14) and a single by Caleb (5) that put two ducks on the pond, Michael connected for a one out RBI single to bring Colston home. On the play, the Angels defence committed an error that allowed Michael to advance to third and Caleb to come home to crow.
With a runner on base, Nikolas stroked a RBI single to bring Michael home.
Angels reliever Milo (12) struck out three in the third to extinguish the O’s insurrection.
Orioles starter Dash returned to the mound in the top of the fourth to retire the Angels in 1-2-3 fashion courtesy of a strikeout and huge defensive play. After James got on first base as a result of an O’s error to lead off the inning, Micha smoked a hot tamale line drive which Dash caught in the shoestrings of his glove to chalk up the first out. Noticing that James had wandered astray from the base, Dash made a laser throw to first baseman Nikolas to ring up a 1-3 double play.
Halos reliever James (6) tallied a pair of strikeouts and a ground out in the bottom of the fourth to keep the Orioles in the bird feeder.
In the top of the fifth, Orioles reliever Nikolas walked one and struck out three Angels to seal the deal on their championship game victory.