TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS FINISHES AMONGST THE FINAL SIX TEAMS AT THE PROVINCIAL PLAYOFFS IN VAUGHAN
Photo courtesy of Steve Yacht
After winning the Toronto Baseball Association (TBA) Championship in late August, the Toronto Playgrounds Major Mosquito ‘AA’ Rep Team concluded their successful 2018 season with a superb effort at the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) Mosquito Provincial Championship playoffs in Vaughan that left them among the final six teams remaining in the double elimination tournament.
TP opened their playoff journey at Tudor Park with consecutive victories over the Sarnia Braves (12-4) and the Oshawa Legionaires (5-1). After losing a 4-3 squeaker against the Tecumseh Rangers (the team that later won the championship), TP played their hearts out in their final game against the host Vaughan Vikings – loading the bases with two outs in the final inning – but fell short, losing 9-6.
TP coaches Jason Koskela, John Gordon and David Badham reflected on the 2018 season after the final game:
“This was an extremely successful year for this team and all players should be very proud of what they were able to accomplish. Only one player on our team had Rep-level experience prior to this year but with a lot of off-season work, dedication, talent and strong character these players rose to greater and greater challenges over the course of the summer.”
“We think the turning point in our season was actually a game we didn’t win. Our inspired 8-6 loss to the Windsor ‘AAA’ Stars, last year’s Minor Mosquito OBA champs, at the Newmarket Silverbat AAA/AA tournament in July made the players appreciate that, when it comes down to it, success is not measured by the outcome of your effort but by the quality of the effort itself. The players walked away from that tournament with three losses and no defeats, so to speak. After that weekend our players’ belief in themselves was never in doubt and fortunately we were rewarded for that with a TBA championship and this outstanding OBA experience.”
“We want to thank the players and parents for their commitment, support and positive attitude throughout the year. And we especially want to thank the Toronto Playgrounds Baseball organization for supporting Rep baseball as a supplement to its strong House League system and very competitive Select programs.”
WAY TO GO, TP!!!