Guelph Royals downed by Maple Leafs in Toronto
TORONTO – Guelph Royals have to switch their focus to finishing fifth in the Intercounty Baseball League’s standings at the conclusion of the regular season after being dropped 7-1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday afternoon at Christie Pits.
The win by the Leafs secured a fourth-place finish for Toronto and home-field advantage in the best-of-five quarter-finals.
Toronto Maple Leafs 7 Guelph Royals 1
A fifth-place finish by the Royals would put them into a quarter-final series with the Leafs.
The Royals and Leafs split their six-game regular-season series, each team recording three victories on their home diamonds. The Royals outscored the Leafs 12-8 in their three wins at Hastings Stadium while the Leafs outscored Guelph 33-13 in the three games at Christie Pits.
Sunday, the Leafs shot ahead for good with a four-run third inning, three of the runs coming in on a homer Jordan Castaldo. He also added a solo homer in the seventh.
Guelph’s run came in the seventh. With one out, Claudio Custodio was walked and Jeff MacLeod followed with a single. Chris Robinson was walked to load the bases before Brendan Keys hit a single to score Custodio. However, MacLeod was out at home trying to add a second run on the play.
The Royals were held to four hits in the game, all singles. Keys hit two of them while Josh Garton and MacLeod had one apiece.
Toronto had nine hits with Castaldo driving in four runs with his two homers. Jesse Hodges hit a double and a single while Justin Marra hit two singles. Dan Marra clouted a double while Garrett Takamatsu and Greg Carrington each hit one single.
Brandon Deans started and took the loss for the Royals. He gave up five runs, four earned, off six hits and two walks. He had two strikeouts.
Ben Reid and Custodio each pitched an inning. Reid surrendered an earned run off two hits and he had a strikeout. Custodio yielded an earned run off one hit.
Daniel Procopio started and claimed the win for Toronto. He tossed five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks and he fanned six.
Zach Sloan pitched two innings while Adam Marra and Chris Nagorski pitched an inning apiece. Sloan gave up the run, two hits and two walks and had two strikeouts. Marra had a strikeout and walked one while Nagorski also had a strikeout.
Welland Jackfish lead the standings at 31-11 and they’re followed by the Kitchener Panthers (26-14), Barrie Baycats (26-16), Toronto (20-20), the Royals (19-22), Hamilton Cardinals (18-23), London Majors (16-25) and Brantford Red Sox (8-33).
Monday, Hamilton is to play at Kitchener and Brantford is to host Toronto.
The Royals are to complete their regular season Tuesday with a game against London. It’s a makeup match for the game rained out last Tuesday.
Game time at Hastings Stadium is 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Royals downed by Maple Leafs in Toronto
TORONTO – Guelph Royals have to switch their focus to finishing fifth in the Intercounty Baseball League’s standings at the conclusion of the regular season after being dropped 7-1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday afternoon at Christie Pits.
The win by the Leafs secured a fourth-place finish for Toronto and home-field advantage in the best-of-five quarter-finals.
Toronto Maple Leafs 7
Guelph Royals 1
A fifth-place finish by the Royals would put them into a quarter-final series with the Leafs.
The Royals and Leafs split their six-game regular-season series, each team recording three victories on their home diamonds. The Royals outscored the Leafs 12-8 in their three wins at Hastings Stadium while the Leafs outscored Guelph 33-13 in the three games at Christie Pits.
Sunday, the Leafs shot ahead for good with a four-run third inning, three of the runs coming in on a homer Jordan Castaldo. He also added a solo homer in the seventh.
Guelph’s run came in the seventh. With one out, Claudio Custodio was walked and Jeff MacLeod followed with a single. Chris Robinson was walked to load the bases before Brendan Keys hit a single to score Custodio. However, MacLeod was out at home trying to add a second run on the play.
The Royals were held to four hits in the game, all singles. Keys hit two of them while Josh Garton and MacLeod had one apiece.
Toronto had nine hits with Castaldo driving in four runs with his two homers. Jesse Hodges hit a double and a single while Justin Marra hit two singles. Dan Marra clouted a double while Garrett Takamatsu and Greg Carrington each hit one single.
Brandon Deans started and took the loss for the Royals. He gave up five runs, four earned, off six hits and two walks. He had two strikeouts.
Ben Reid and Custodio each pitched an inning. Reid surrendered an earned run off two hits and he had a strikeout. Custodio yielded an earned run off one hit.
Daniel Procopio started and claimed the win for Toronto. He tossed five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks and he fanned six.
Zach Sloan pitched two innings while Adam Marra and Chris Nagorski pitched an inning apiece. Sloan gave up the run, two hits and two walks and had two strikeouts. Marra had a strikeout and walked one while Nagorski also had a strikeout.
Welland Jackfish lead the standings at 31-11 and they’re followed by the Kitchener Panthers (26-14), Barrie Baycats (26-16), Toronto (20-20), the Royals (19-22), Hamilton Cardinals (18-23), London Majors (16-25) and Brantford Red Sox (8-33).
Monday, Hamilton is to play at Kitchener and Brantford is to host Toronto.
The Royals are to complete their regular season Tuesday with a game against London. It’s a makeup match for the game rained out last Tuesday.
Game time at Hastings Stadium is 7:30 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal