IN A FUN FILLED SUNDAY AFFAIR, THE GRITTY RED BIRDS AND MIGHTY GIANTS BATTLE TO A DRAW AT BICKFORD PARK
Beneath a warm blanket of blue and cloudy skies, the Cardinals and Giants battled to a 7-7 tie during four innings of Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball Peewee Division action at the Bickford Park Diamond.
Here is a Giants account of the proceedings courtesy of Roe Sivanandan:
- With lots of baseball loving fans on hand to watch the game, the Cardinals played host to the Giants on a beautiful evening at Bickford Park.
- In the top of the first, after Ian (9) led off the inning with a walk to put a runner on base, Giants slugger Jonas (1) followed and belted his second HOME RUN of the season to stake the Mighty Giants to an early 2-0 lead.
- Shaken, but not stirred, the Cardinals starting pitcher settled into a sweet groove and struck out the next three batters that he faced to quell the Giants uprising.
- Pitching for the second time this season, Giants starter Ian (9) threw a solid bottom half of the first where he surrendered only one run to the Cards to preserve a 2-1 lead.
- The second inning was a classic pitching duel. While the Cards kept the Mighty Giants off the scoreboard in the top of the second, the Giants bullpen returned the favour in the bottom half of the inning. Pitching for the first time ever in a baseball game, Giants reliever Nikhil (3) tossed a solid frame to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard and maintain their one run advantage.
- In the top portion of the third, the Giants’ bats came alive with respective singles from Elliott (14), Euan (11), Ian and a key double from Jonas (1) that allowed the Mighty Giants to maximize their return and widen their lead to 6-1.
- With Giants reliever Jonas (1) on the hill, the Red Birds answered back with four in the bottom of the third to close the margin to 6-5.
- In the top of the fourth inning, the Giants faced a strong fastball hurling Cardinals reliever fresh from the bullpen. However, after reaching base on a Cardinals error, ‘Speedy’ Nikhil turned on the jets and utilized his Grand Theft skills to swipe second and third on two straight pitches before stealing home again for the second game in a row to score a much needed insurance run for the Giants.
- Down 7-5, the Cardinals donned their rally caps and mustered a two run rally against the Giants closer Alex O. (15) to deadlock the game.
- With the game in the balance, A.O. regained his composure (and with some help from the Giants defence) to snuff out the Red Birds insurgency and preserve the 7-7 tie.