SELECT > A Sweet Time for One and All at the TP Invitational


FOR THE SHEER LOVE OF THE GAME, FOUR EBA MOSQUITO SELECT BASEBALL TEAMS (BLOORDALE, MARTINGROVE WHITE, ROYAL YORK RED AND TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS MINOR) GATHERED TOGETHER ON A GLORIOUS SUMMER WEEKEND FOR A FUN FILLED TOURNAMENT AND SKILLS COMPETITION AT CHRISTIE PITS

A group picture of the EBA Mosquito Select players and coaches from the Bloordale Bombers, Martingrove White, Royal York Red and Toronto Playgrounds Minor who participated in the inaugural TP Invitational Baseball Tournament at Christie Pits.

Beneath an immaculate blanket of warm summer skies, the Bloordale Bombers prevailed 10-5 over the Royal York Red in a five inning playoff final this afternoon at Christie Pits Diamond 2 to win the inaugural Toronto Playgrounds Invitational Baseball Tournament Championship.

2019 TP Invitational Baseball Tournament Champions: Bloordale Bombers

Four teams (Bloordale; Martingrove White; Royal York and the TP Minor Mosquito Selects) from the Etobicoke Baseball Association (EBA) Mosquito Select Loop gathered together this weekend for a fun filled tournament, skills competition and a delicious BBQ lunch of scrumptious Baldwin Street Kosher Beef Hot Dogs to bring the curtain down on the 2019 season.

TP Baseball extends its congratulations to Bloordale for capturing the TP Invitational Tournament Championship with a stellar 4-0 record.

Photos of the Bloordale Bombers and Royal York Red from the TP Invitational Baseball Tournament Championship Game Postgame Ceremony at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

The TP Invitational commenced on Saturday morning with the Bombers edging the Martingrove White 9-8 in a six inning nail biter at Millwood Park to win its opening round robin game at the tourney.

Late yesterday afternoon, the Invitational kicked into full throttle as the four participating teams began play at Christie Pits. Down 9-3, Bloordale staged a tsunami fourteen run rally in the fourth frame to overtake Toronto Playgrounds 17-12 in a 4 ½ inning wild west round robin affair at Diamond 2.

Photos from the August 24, 2019 TP Invitational Baseball Tournament round robin game between the TP Minor Mosquito Selects and Bloordale Bombers at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

Meanwhile, the Royal York Red took no prisoners as the Cardinals took flight and defeated the White Sox 16-5 in a four inning proceeding at Diamond 3 to earn its opening round robin game victory at the Invitational.

Late last night, Toronto Playgrounds fended off an eleven run rally by the Cardinals in the final frame to hang on for a slender tenderloin 18-17 3 ½ inning round robin win over Royal York to capture its first victory at the Invitational.

Kudos to the Red for slugging two huge home runs [Ava (77) hit a three run dinger and Amanda (16) crushed a grand salami for the Cards] during their majestic comeback bid in the top of the fourth that just fell a tad short.

Photos from the August 24, 2019 TP Invitational Baseball Tournament round robin game between the TP Minor Mosquito Selects and Royal York Red at Christie Pits Diamond 2.

Round robin action at the TP Invitational wrapped up this morning when P.A systems were set up at the diamonds so player names and corresponding walk up songs greeted them during their respective at bats.

At Diamond 2, Bloordale erased a 6-4 deficit to defeat Royal York 11-6 in a four inning affair to finish the round robin undefeated (3-0) and earn the top seed ranking at the tourney.

Meanwhile over at Diamond 3, Martingrove rallied to usurp Toronto Playgrounds 16-13 in a six inning marathon to earn its first round robin game victory at the Invitational.

With three teams finishing the round robin portion of the tourney with 1-2 round robin records, the tie breaking formula had Royal York earning the second seed; Martingrove with the third seed and TP ranked fourth. As such, the Cardinals would face the Bombers in the Championship Game and the White Sox and Toronto Playgrounds battled for bragging rights in the third place consolation final.

However, before game action resumed, players, coaches and family members from all four teams took a much deserved BBQ lunch break to chow down on some tasty Baldwin Street Kosher Hot Dogs, potato chips and water from the volunteer staffed TP BBQ Zone.

Players, coaches and family members recharge at the TP Invitational with a delicious serving of Baldwin Street Kosher Hot Dogs, potato chips, TimBits and water that was served up by the hard working volunteers at the TP BBQ Zone.

Once all the players had sated their appetites, they gathered together for a fun filled baseball skills competition that took place at all three diamonds at Christie Pits.

Here are the TP Invitational Skills Competition Results:

ACCURATE PITCH > Chase (9) [Martingrove] 4 of 6

AROUND THE BASES > Martingrove 1:06:63

AROUND THE HORN > Martingrove and Bloordale 14:26

FASTEST ON THE BASES > First Place: Joshua (8) [Bloordale]; Neve (6) [Royal York]

GROUNDBALLS > Lucas (24) and Payton (3) [Toronto Playgrounds]

LONGEST HIT > Holden (25) [Toronto Playgrounds] and Owen (10) [Bloordale]

OUTFIELD RELAY > Bloordale and Toronto Playgrounds

Photos from the TP Invitational Baseball Tournament Skills Competition Event at Christie Pits.

Following a brief rest after the skills competition event, action resumed at Diamond 3. In a tooth and nail battle, TP prevailed 11-8 over Martingrove in a five inning contest to capture third place honours at the Invitational.

And over at Diamond 2, the Bombers took down the Cardinals to take home the championship prize.

The TP Minor Mosquito Selects chill between games during the Sunday portion of the TP Invitational at Christie Pits.

The weekend Toronto Playgrounds Invitational event was community baseball at its finest. TP Baseball would like to thank all the hard working volunteers from the TP Minor Mosquito Select Team who pitched in and worked diligently behind the scenes to make the Invitational the success that it was.

We would also like to thank all the players, coaches and family members from Bloordale, Martingrove and Royal York for taking the time to partake in our inaugural Invitational event. Many thanks to Royal York for their generous financial contribution to help us offset some of the costs for staging the event.

And finally, a special thanks to TP Minor Mosquito Select Head Coach Rob Ball for his unbridled energy and zeal in making the entire TP Invitational Baseball Tournament possible.

Final 2019 TP Invitational: Mosquito Select Baseball Tournament Round Robin Standings after 6 of 6 Round Robin Games Played.

Rank Team GP Wins Losses Ties
1 Bloordale Bombers 3 3 0 0
2 Royal York Red 3 1 2 0
3 Martingrove White 3 1 2 0
4 Toronto Playgrounds 3 1 2 0

All teams play three games and play each other once. Championship game teams decided by Won-Loss record.

ROUND ROBIN SCORES

Saturday, August 24

  • Bloordale 9 Martingrove 8 [Millwood Park]
  • Bloordale 17 Toronto Playgrounds 12 [Christie Pits Diamond 2]
  • Royal York 16 Martingrove 5 [Christie Pits Diamond 3]
  • Toronto Playgrounds 18 Royal York 17 [Christie Pits Diamond 2]

Sunday, August 25

  • Bloordale 11 Royal York 6 [Christie Pits Diamond 2]
  • Martingrove 16 Toronto Playgrounds 13 [Christie Pits Diamond 3]

THIRD PLACE GAME

Sunday, August 25

  •  Toronto Playgrounds 11 Martingrove 8 [Christie Pits Diamond 3]

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Sunday, August 25

  •  Bloordale 10 Royal York 5 [Christie Pits Diamond 2]