WITH THEIR LOSS TO THE A’s AT OURLAND PARK, TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS JOURNEY AT THE TOURNEY COMES TO AN END. DESPITE FALLING SHORT OF THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL, THE TP 13U ‘AA’ REPS EXPERIENCED A FUN AND REWARDING SUMMER OF BASEBALL ON THE FIELD OF DREAMS.
Tournament Post composed with files from Paul Ungerman. Photos and Video courtesy of Andreya Bajec and Dora Parks.
Beneath a checkered blanket of sunny and cloudy skies, the North Toronto A’s prevailed 9-4 over the Toronto Playgrounds 13U Reps in a seven inning 2021 Toronto Baseball Association (TBA) 13U ‘AA’ Semi-Final Elimination Playoff Game this morning at Ourland Park.
With their second playoff game loss, the TP 13U ‘Reps (2-2) are now officially eliminated from further playoff tournament play. (Each team participating in the TBA 13U ‘AA’ Rep playoff tourney is working under the double knockout formula, whereby a team is eliminated from further contention once they have lost two elimination playoff games.)
Toronto Playgrounds began its quest on Friday evening with a 9-1 victory over the North York Blues in a 5 ½ inning game under the lights at Christie Pits,
The TP pitching brigade set the tone for the proceedings early on as starter William Parks (33) and relievers Momo Winer-Takabatake (18) and Charlie Zilcosky (8) combined to limit North York to only one run while striking out five Blues over five stellar frames.
Runs were at a premium as the game was a scoreless affair until TP broke the goose egg with a take no prisoners eight run explosion in the bottom of the third inning that propelled them to their first playoff game win at the tournament.
In an epic tooth and nail battle on Saturday afternoon that necessitated two extra frames, Toronto Playgrounds prevailed for a slender tenderloin 15-14 victory over the Annette A’s in eight nail biting innings of action at Tom Riley Park.
Down 12-9, TP staged a dramatic three run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to deadlock the game and force extra innings.
After stroking a one out single to right field, Julian Martineau (20) took advantage of an A’s error to hustle around the horn into scoring position at third base. Momo followed with a RBI hit to bring Julian home.
With a runner on first, Milo Brezina (27) powered a RBI double that allowed Momo to score and close the gap to one.
With the game on the line, Charlie stepped into the batter’s box and delivered a grace under pressure RBI single to bring Milo home with the tying run.
After Annette had staked itself to a 14-12 advantage in the top portion of the first extra frame, Toronto Playgrounds refused to go home quietly as they fought back in derring-do fashion with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning to tie the game.
With Sean Arseneau (13) placed on second base, Cooper Nichols (3) stroked a leadoff single that put two ducks on the pond. Subsequently, with runners on third and second, Aron Ungerman (14) launched a clutch two RBI double that allowed Sean and Cooper to motor homeward with the tying runs.
Cool as a cucumber, TP reliever MIlo Brezina utilized two strikeouts to retire the potent A’s batting order in 1-2-3 fashion in the top of the eighth inning to keep Annette off the scoring ledger.
After being placed on second base in the bottom portion of the eighth inning, Dylan Sadavoy (10) took advantage of a wild pitch to advance to third. Subsequently, as Julian took a pitch to draw a walk, the ball bounced away from the Annette catcher and turned into a wild pitch. Seizing the moment, Dylan charged home like a Gazelle to score TP’s dramatic winning run over the A’s in the second extra inning (See video below.).
In their final preliminary round playoff game on Saturday evening, TP encountered their first defeat at the tourney when they fell 20-8 to the East York Bulldogs in a four inning proceeding at Queensway Park.
Despite the loss, TP had garnered a 2-1 record and punched their ticket into the semi-final portion of the TBA Tournament with a showdown versus North Toronto,
With a fruitful regular season and a well earned semi-final showing at the TBA playoffs, the TP 13U Reps had a fun filled and enormously rewarding season of baseball during the compressed 2021 TBA Rep campaign.
The TP Baseball Committee wishes to express their thanks to TP 13U Rep Head Coach John Zilcosky and Assistant Coaches Lubo Brezina, Garth Nichols and Eugene Winer for their fortitude and patience in steering these talented 13U Reps through the highs and lows of the 2021 season.
And a special kudos goes out to TP 13U Rep Manager Dora Parks for her dedication and hard work behind the scenes keeping the team organized and game ready during the 2021 campaign.
The Committee also wishes to commend all the 13U Rep coaches, players, parents and family members for representing the core values of Toronto Playgrounds Baseball program with honour, dignity and professionalism both on and off the diamond during the course of the 2021 season.
WAY TO GO, TP!
