TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS PREVAIL OVER THE BOMBERS IN A NITTY GRITTY SHOWDOWN AT CHRISTIE PITS
Beneath a genteel duvet of succulent late summer skies, the Toronto Playgrounds 11U Selects prevailed 5-3 over the Bloordale Bombers in a five inning Etobicoke Baseball Association (EBA) Mosquito Select game tonight beneath the lights at Christie Pits Diamond 2.
The proceeding was an entertaining and well played affair between two talented and well coached teams. In the end, TP rode on the coattails of some strong pitching, steady defence, and making the most of their offensive opportunities, to prevail over a pesky Bombers squad that continued to battle until the final out of the game.
In the top portion of the first, TP jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Exercising patience at the dish, Tyler (10), Jacob (9) and Hudson (18) garnered consecutive walks to load the bases. With two outs, Oliver (35) delivered a clutch two RBI single that brought Tyler and Jacob home with the opening runs of the game.
Shaken, but not stirred, Bloordale starter Eric (1) found the inner groove and chalked up three strikeouts in the first frame to terminate the TP threat.
Bloordale threatened in the bottom of the first after Justin (93) and Eric drew respective walks that put two runners on base. With a little help from his friends, TP starter Holden (25) tallied a groundout, strikeout and flyout to put a kibosh on the Bombers threat.
On the first out, Holden bolted off the mound to pick up a nubbler off the bat of Adler (20), and made a laser toss to TP first baseman Mike (19) to ring up a baby whisker 1-3 putout. With two outs and runners at third and first, TP centre fielder Tyler charged in like a gazelle to make a shoestring catch off the bat of Hayden (1) to bring the inning to a close.
With the wind in their sails, Toronto Playgrounds added a pair in the top of the second to stretch their advantage to 4-0. After Payton (3) and Kaiden (4) led off the inning with back to back walks that put two ducks on the inlet. Julian (77) followed with a RBI single that brought Payton home to do the shimmy, shimmy, shake.
Subsequently, with one out and two aboard, Tyler stroked a RBI hit that allowed Kaiden to motor home with TP’s fourth run.
In a gritty effort on the hill, Bombers starter Eric tallied a groundout and a strikeout in the second to end the TP threat. Eric was helped immeasurably on a superb defensive play by his catcher Augustino (26), who threw out a TP baserunner who was attempting to steal third base.
Bloordale struck back with a pair in the bottom of the second to slice the deficit to 4-2. Following a one out single by Lucas (12) that put a runner on base, Colin (18) delivered a RBI double that brought Lucas home with the Bombers first run. A grievous TP error on the play would allow Colin to come home with another run.
Nonplussed, TP starter Holden racked up a pop out and two strikeouts to curtail the Bloordale insurgency in the second inning.
With 1-2-3 efficiency, Bloordale reliever Justin (93) bookended a pair of groundouts around a strikeout to keep TP off the scoring ledger in the top of the third.
With a dash of relish and a dollop of mustard, TP reliever Payton (3) returned the favour in the bottom half of the third when he rang up two strikeouts and a pop out to keep the Bombers offence in the airport hangar.
Toronto Playgrounds would threaten in the top portion of the fourth after Payton singled and stole his way around the horn to third base with Grand Theft aplomb. Cool as a cucumber, Bloordale reliever Justin pulled out his Veg-O-Matic and sliced and diced the TP threat with two strikeouts and a groundout to keep them off the scoreboard.
The pesky Bombers continued to chip away as they scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 4-3 After leading off the inning with a single, Alex (9) utilized his speed to advance into scoring position at third. With two outs, Brandon (14) stroked a clutch RBI single to bring Alex home.
In true grit fashion, TP reliever Payton tallied a pair of strikeouts and fly out to quell Bloordale in the fourth.
TP tacked on an insurance run in the top of the fifth to stretch their lead to 5-3. After reaching base a one out single, Tyler turned on the afterburners and swiped his way to third. On his theft of third base, the Bombers defence committed a faux pas that allowed Tyler to come homeward and do the Gangnam Style.
With two outs and a pair of TP runners on base, Bloordale reliever Brendon (21) entered the fray from the bullpen to induce a groundout that ended the threat in the fifth. In a workmanlike effort, Bombers reliever Alex (9) rung up two strikeouts in the inning.
Refusing to go quietly into the night, Bloordale continued to battle in bottom of the fifth as they put the potential tying runs aboard. Following a one out single by Colin, Augustino reached base on a hit by pitch that put two runners on base.
With the game on the line, TP reliever Hudson (18) mowed down the next two Bomber batters with a pair of scintillating strikeouts to the seal the deal on hard fought victory. In total, Hudson tallied three emphatic K’s during the fifth to bring the curtain down on the proceedings.
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