Weather does little to dampen last week's baseball play
The Inside Pitch
By Lee-Ann Brinovec

Despite the rain at the beginning of last week, there were a surprising number of games being played on the diamonds in and around King Township.

Junior rookie

The Tile Source sponsored team played two games last week and it is quite evident that each player is improving with every game.

They traveled to Aurora for their first game, and despite the rather cool temperatures, they gave it their all. Emily Brinovec, Angelo Grande, Lucas Critelli, Nicholas Lauriola and Kurtis Lewandowski turned in perfect plate appearances.

Their second game was played under clear blue skies at Pottageville Park. The team struggled at the plate for the first time this season, and the only three players who were able to connect in both their at bats were Lucas Critelli, with two monster hits to the green, Angelo Grande and Kurtis Lewandowski. Honourable mention goes to Jesse Becker, who smashed out her first long ball hit of the season, cashing in two much-needed runs. It was up to the defence to keep the game in reach, and these young ball players did just that. Jake Hansen was sharp on first, making an unassisted out on a sharplyhit ground ball. Nothing got past Brinovec at second as she made two outs herself and Jordan Chantiam has shown that he has what it takes to patrol the infield at short stop, not letting anything get past him.

Schomberg IGA, coached by Charlie Falzone, also managed to play both of their scheduled games last week.

In the first outing, Luca Ferrari, Serene Falzone, Frankie Aloia, A.J. DiCrescenzo and Mark Lago turned in perfect at bats. Lago also showed his skills defensively, making several outs at second base. Brock Walters was a vacuum in centre field, making sure nothing got by him. The player of the game was Christian Leone, who was not only stellar in his defensive role, but was also perfect at the plate, hitting a home run with his first at bat of the night. It was a very special night as he turned six. A job well done by the birthday boy!

The second game saw the Schomberg IGA team continue their dominance at the plate with their batters pounding out hit after hit, with a total of five home runs in two innings of play. Perfect at the plate were Andrew Dinopolous, Nicholas Dicks, Tyler Radell and Magnus Krever.

Senior rookie

Wednesday night saw the TVS Development Cobras play to an 11-11 tie against a team from Aurora.

Great defence was the key to this game for King 1 squad.

In the bottom of the last inning, the outstanding defence was the difference between preserving the tie or losing the game. Myles Cook knocked down numerous ground balls at second, and Hunter Chantiam did the same at short. Zachary Long had a busy night at first base with several knockdowns and unassisted outs. The play of the game came from Scott Cameron on third as he prevented a grounder from getting past him and made the out to end the offensive threat from Aurora. Daniel Pignataro went three-forthree at the plate, and the Beer brothers (Allan and Sean) had their strongest batting game of the season as each of them connected for a pair of singles.

Rona Cashway, the King 2 senior rookie club, is improving with each and every game. Hitting does not appear to be a problem, as Julien Cristante, Alexander Topp, Rachel Price and Cassidy Tomlinson all stepped up to the plate and stroked out base hits, bringing in RBIs. Thomas Beckley was stellar behind the plate, catching a pop fly from the bat of an Aurora player. The trooper award goes to Price, who while playing first was hit in the mouth by a ball thrown to her by a team mate, but shook it off an went to bat in Rona Cashway's half of the inning, earning player of the game honours in the process.

Mosquito

Armstrong Petroleums, the King 1 team, handed BMO Searles a 12-10 loss Thursday, bringing Armstrong's season record to three wins and two losses.

It was sweet revenge after a loss to BMO early in May.

Daniel Lucia took the mound in the second inning and got all three outs himself, with two strikeouts and catching an infield pop fly. In the third inning, after allowing only one run, Francesco Amanteo also struck out two batters and made a great throw to first to record the third out. Although Alex Mulder is known for cranking out the big hits, he reached base three times by being patient at the plate when the BMO pitchers had some difficulty finding the strike zone. A return trip this summer to the Diamond Dreams Baseball Camp, and Mulder will certainly find his lost groove Aggressive base running allowed him to cross the plate three times. Daniel Luccia also crossed home three times, and along with Mulder, they combined for half of the team's runs. The player of the game for Armstrong was Mulder.

Minor bantam rep

Gutsy outing by

Lipscombe for naught

Last Monday night in Aurora, starter Josh Lipscombe practically put the Cobras on his back and carried them as far as he could in King's contest against the first place Jays.

Unfortunately, the weight of the 11 other players ultimately proved too much and the young hurler was taken out after getting into the sixth inning tied 3-3. Lipscombe struck out 10 of the 26 batters he faced before being replaced by Brady Boccia and then Steven LaVerde. Even the Aurora players applauded his efforts as he walked off the mound. By this point in the game, more than a few of the young Cobras, who have four peewees on their roster, had begun to falter under the pressure of going head to head against an excellent Aurora squad. The tie eventually dissolved into yet another tough loss.

Newcomer Joel Winer started at third and made his presence felt, going one for two, driving in a run and playing solid defence at the hot corner. Centre fielder Daniel Lisi finally got on track offensively with a key hit and scored on an Aurora error, while Boccia and Lipscombe plated the other Cobra runs.

Taylor Joseph, whom the team is counting on to help ignite the offence, once he shakes the off-season rust, showed that his bat skills might be closer to ready than everyone thought as he laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt in the two-run fifth inning.

This was by far the best game turned in by the Cobras to date, and gives everyone hope that better things are in store. At this point in the season, Stephen Leonard leads the pitching staff in ERA, Lipscombe in starts and innings pitched, while Ryan Forletta is tops in hitting average allowed. Defensively, Forletta and Danton Brinovec have the best fielding percentage; both are over .900. On the offensive side, Lisi and Lipscombe lead in runs scored, several players are tied in hits and La Verde, among the regulars, has the highest batting average.

I would just like to thank all the coaches and volunteers who helped make Photo Day run smoothly and remind everyone who was unable to make it Saturday, that the make-up day for photos is tonight (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m. at Nobleton Park.

Sponsor of the Week

The King Township sponsor of the week is Rona Cashway. Thank you for your continued support of baseball in King.

Payer of the Week

The King Township Player of the week award goes to Thomas Beckley from the Rona Cashway senior rookie team, coached by John Cristante.

Thomas is player who can be relied on by his team for timely hitting, cashing in RBI's as his team has struggled offensively at times. He also seems to be mentioned each week in his team's game reports, making one great defensive play after another. Congratulations Thomas, and continued success on the ball diamond.