TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS DEFUSE THE BOMBERS IN A NITTY GRITTY EBA 11U SELECT CONTEST AT CHRISTIE PITS
Beneath a pristine blue blanket of glorious summer skies, the Toronto Playgrounds 11U Blue Selects defeated the Bloordale Bombers 10-0 in a 3½ inning Etobicoke Baseball Association (EBA) Select Loop game this afternoon at Christie Pits Diamond 3.
In the top portion of the first, TP starter Jonas (25) chalked up two strikeouts and a pop out to keep the Bombers off the scoring ledger and in the airplane hangar.
TP jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff walk by Alex (13), Ozzie (6) reached base on hit by pitch and Cohen (22) garnered a one out walk to load the bases.
Subsequently, with two outs, Bloordale uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ozzie and Cohen to advance respectively to third and second, and brought Alex home with the opening run of the game.
Following a walk by William (12) that reloaded the bases, Simon (10) drew a clutch bases loaded RBI walk that allowed Ozzie to come home with a run.
Unfazed, Bloordale starter Elliot (10) tallied three strikeouts in the first inning to end the TP rebellion.
Bloordale threatened in the top of the second after Aidan (92) and Olivier (11) garnered back to back walks that put two mallards on the lake.
With a dash of relish and a dollop of Dijon mustard, TP starter Jonas racked up three strikeouts to vanquish the Bombers rally and keep them off the scoreboard and on the tarmac.
Exercising patience at the dish, Toronto Playgrounds feasted on a scrumptious Mandarin Buffet serving of six walks in the bottom of the second to add four runs to their haul and widen their advantage to 6-0.
After Jonas led off the inning with a walk, Madeline (15) reached base on a hit by pitch, and Dash (00) drew a walk that loaded the bases.
With Conga Line precision, Alex, Dante (36), Ozzie and Cohen followed with respective bases loaded RBI walks that brought Jonas, Madeline, Dash and Alex home with the bacon.
Refusing to throw in the towel, Bloordale threatened once again in the top of the third after Charlie (2), Lucas (3) and Ryan (99) garnered consecutive walks to load the bases.
In a dire pickle, TP reliever Zack (8) found his mojo and chalked up a pop out and two strikeouts to extricate himself from the sticky wicket in the third inning and leave the bases stranded.
TP added four insurance runs in the bottom half of the third to increase their upper hand to 10-0. After a one out walk by William, Simon stepped into the batter’s box and cranked a double. A Bombers error on the play allowed Simon to move over to third base and brought William home with a run.
With a runner on third, Jack (1) stroked a RBI hit that allowed Simon to score.
Subsequently, with two outs and a runner on base, Madeline and Dash garnered back to back walks that loaded the bases, Alex and Dante followed with respective bases loaded RBI walks that brought Jack and Madeline homeward with a pair of runs.
In a gritty outing on the hill, Bloordale reliver Robbie rang up two strikeouts in the third frame.
Taking umbrage at their situation, Bloordale donned their rally caps in the top of the fourth and made a final charge to stay alive.
After a pair of one out walks by Robbie and Aidan, Olivier followed suit with another walk to load the bases. Seizing upon a TP wild pitch on Olivier’s free pass, Robbie made a bold as brass gambit to charge homeward. As he approached home plate like a runaway locomotive, TP catcher Alex retrieved the ball and slapped an emphatic tag on Robbie to thwart his Grand Theft dreams and ring up the second out.
With two outs and two ducklings on the pond, TP reliever Zack struck out the next Bombers batter to seal the deal on TP’s victory.
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