The Inside Pitch
Lots of wins for the local outfits last week
By Lee-Ann Brinovec Junior rookie

There were were 22 young ball players who spent a week last month learning some of the finer points of the game at the King Township Baseball Association's annual Diamond Dreams Camp. Tom Ellison, who ran the camp with Mike Mallory, was talking to some of the participants before putting them through some drills, such as this one, aimed at bringing a run-down to a successful conclusion for the fielding team.

It was another exciting night at the ballpark for our Tile Source junior rookie team as they headed to Aurora to face Aurora Home Hardware on their home turf.

The bright red uniforms of the Aurora team were dazzling, but in the end it was the green King team that made the big plays that had the crowd cheering.

The first inning saw nearly all of the King lineup connect at the plate for singles, but then Jessie Becker smashed out a decisive double, and Lucas "Big Swing" Critelli matched it with a double of his own. On their second goaround at the plate, the King bats just kept getting hotter and they logged easy standup doubles from Becker, Emily Brinovec, Jake Hansen, and Critelli. Topping of the inning was a tremendous bash by Angelo Grande that allowed him an easy trot to third base.

Although the hitting was outstanding the team was also solid at defense. Jordan Chantiam was a wall in the field as he put a halt to every Aurora hit that reached the grass, and he was assisted by Grande, who played a steady second base, making several outs. Shifting positions as the game progressed, Grande took over in the field and continued his trend of making outs at second base, this time with the skillful glove of Hansen on the bag. As Aurora's last batter of the inning stepped to the plate they must have been a little apprehensive, and it was well justified. Brinovec knocked down a sizzling line drive and made a perfect on target throw to home to halt any scoring chance that Aurora had in the inning.

The final inning saw King players continue to belt out great hits, and use their lightening speed to round the bases. Becker, Brinovec and Hansen all earned easy doubles, and Critelli knocked a ball deep into the outfield that allowed him a stand-up triple. At the home half of the inning, Aurora thought it would be their chance to get back in the game, but that was not to be. Critelli put a dent in their hopes as he caught a high fly ball, which seemed to hang in the air forever. Grande again got our attention as he dove to make contact with first base, beating the runner and recording the second out of the inning. The pressure was on the last Aurora batter who came to the plate with two runners on. He made great contact, but sadly for him, Brinovec was playing left field, and her strong arm defies her diminutive size, as she made a throw right to Jordan Chantiam at home and stopped all the Aurora runners from scoring.

Player of the game for Tile Source was Emily Brinovec, who was threefor three at the plate, and also made two key plays to end the second and third innings without allowing an Aurora base runner to cross home plate.

Schomberg IGA was busy this week, taking on two Aurora teams and showing them that you have to temper big hits with solid team defence to be successful.

The King team was led this week by Frankie Aloia, who has found his swing and is becoming a bat the team can rely on, extending his hit streak to three games. Luca Ferrari has also perfected his swing and connected for three doubles this week alone. Hitting home runs in consecutive games were Nicholas Dicks and Mark Lago. Besides being a force at the plate, Dicks was flashing some leather this week, making several great defensive plays including a highlight-reel line drive catch to end an inning during the first game.

Red-hot Filebank Records let their bats do the talking as they traveled to James Lloyd Park to take on Canadian Springs last Tuesday.

Nia McKay, Matthew Murphy, Justin Topp, Ben Brown, Mackenzie Douglas and Giselle Murphy all had a pair of hits and scored twice. Matthew and Mackenzie belted out triples and Giselle, batting cleanup, pounded out a pair of home runs. Defensively, Filebank turned in another strong effort. Cadence Opoka- Mullins and Katie Douglas each made a couple of eyecatching plays and Ben put on a show at shortstop with several excellent pick-ups.

Player of the game for Filebank Records was Ben Brown.

Senior rookies

Our two King senior rookie teams met face to face for their third match-up of the season at beautiful Pottageville Park.

It was evident that the TVS Development Corp team was pumped and ready to play, but Rona Cashway, with only seven players able to make the game, were equally primed.

TVS were designated home team, took to the field to defend what was about to become a game of big hits and lots of scoring.

Hunter Chantiam started off at shortstop and had quite a knack of stopping everything that went to his side of the diamond, and Myles Cook was a happy first baseman who made several plays in conjunction with him. At bat, Rona Cashway had hits by Julien and Zoë Cristante, Rachel Price, Sam Hoare, Alex Topp, Kyle Venberg and Connor Harris. When the roles were switched and TVS went to bat, Zachary Long and Sara Valentini each nailed solid doubles, and then Adam "Chipper" Cipollone thump out a wellearned home run.

With the final inning upon them, the TVS Development team managed to all but shut down Rona Cashway with the only run of the inning scored by Julien Cristante. Great defensive plays were made by Valentini, with a throw to Daniel Pignataro at second to get an out, and by Myles Cook, who knocked down a hard-hit line drive and made the toss to Pignataro to end the inning.

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Rona Cashway was not without their defensive highlights. Venberg patrolled the infield making an unassisted out in the second inning. Price was putting on a fielding clinic as she kept the ball in the infield and scoped up a ground ball and beat the runner to first base to record the second out of the fourth inning.

Player of the game for TVS Development was Daniel Pignataro who was four-for-four at the plate and a key play maker in the infield. Player of the game for Rona Cashway was Rachel Price for her key hits and fielding prowess.

Mosquito

Armstrong Petroleums (K1) shut out Reagans 11-0 Thursday evening.

The King team came to play, and play they did. They started off a little on the slow side, scoring just one run in the opening inning, but it didn't take long for them to feel right at home at the plate scoring their maximum five runs in the second. Daniel Luccia started it off with a double, bringing in two runs. The big bat of Alec Mulder cashed in a double, bringing Luccia in from second.

The team played their best defensive game of the season starting with Daniel Luccia on the mound taking over for an injured Kayla and getting the final two outs of the second. Also in the second, Francesco Armanteo at third and Kyle Symond at catcher combined to make a key out, stopping the Reagan's player from crossing home. In the third and fourth innings, the pitching-catching combination of Joshua Hollings and Mathew Ardizzi put the game to rest, as they shut down the final six batters.

The King City Auto (K2) team ended Remax Aurora's unbeaten streak, handing them an 11-10 loss last Tuesday.

King City roared out to a 5-2 lead after the first inning and never looked back. Hits by Gavin Datt and Connor Brunt and several walks contributed to the five runs. King managed only one run in the second, when J.P. Cappella hit a long double and was brought home on the double by Austin Larsh. Neil Orr did his part in the field, catching a pop fly in right field that could have spelled trouble for the King team. King City Auto had two more runners cross home in the third on singles by Cappella, Datt, Luke Rapos and Cameron Wells. Remax did not give up, bringing in five runs of their own in the third. King City Auto added three more in the fourth to hold on the victory.

The Harris & Harris LLP mosquito 3 team had a great week with two wins. Last Tuesday, the team played a spectacular game against Scholars Education from Aurora, winning 8-6. Kamren Wallbank played a superb game, hitting a home run, and then a double in the bottom of the fifth, bringing in two runs and winning the game. He also pitched two great innings.

Player of the game honours went to Kamren Wallbank.

Thursday, with just seven players in attendance, the Harris & Harris team took on the Royal LePage team and again recorded a close win, this time by a score of 10-9.

With Jack Mull's solid pitching and Matthew Sperduti in relief, they were able to hold the Aurora team in check. Rounding the bases with clutch hitting from Jack Mull, Kamren Wallbank, Will Maclachlan, Matthew Sperduti enabled King to add to the score sheet.

Player of the game was Jack Mull.

Both games contributed to Harris & Harris's impressive record of 10 wins, four losses and a tie.

Peewee

Royal LePage (K2) played host to Aurora's Scotia Bank in their first meeting of the season, and came away with a 14-3 victory.

Both teams saw solid pitching in the first three innings, with Royal LePage's Brandon D'Amato keeping Scotia Bank off the score sheet. Royal LePage's bats came alive in the fourth and they truly took advantage of the open inning, sending 13 runs across the plate. Shane Rudnitski had an awesome game at the plate with two earned runs, three stolen bases and five RBIs.

Player of the game was Rudnitski, who not only helped his team score runs, but also contributed to the defense by making a double play at third.

Royal LePage played Scotiabank in a rematch Thursday, and once again Royal LePage handed the Aurora team a loss, this time by a score of 10-7. King started out on a strong note, scoring six runs in their first three at bats. Josh Baird pitched three solid innings, allowing only two runs.

Rhind Electric (K3) added two more games to their win column this week. They defeated Rotary Club (A3) by a score of 14-11 last Monday.

Matthew Maloney led the way at the plate, with a pair of doubles, a single and a walk. Dylan Love was not far behind. As leadoff batter, he started the game with a double.

Player of the game for Rhind Electric was Matthew Maloney who continues to be a force at the plate.

At home to TD Waterhouse last Wednesday, they played a much closer game that came down to the last batter in the sixth inning.

The game started as a low-scoring affair, with King held scoreless in the first two innings and Aurora scoring one and three runs respectively. Rhind Electric broke the game wide open in the third, scoring the maximum five runs and then adding another three in the fourth. It turned out to be all the runs they would need.

The big hitters of the game were Maloney, with an in-the-park home run, cashing in two RBIs, and Travis Brinovec, who connected for doubles in consecutive at bats, one from the right side of the plate, and one from the left. Scott Rhind pitched two scoreless innings recording four strikeouts, and relying on his fielders for the other two outs. One was by Brinovec, who made a great running catch on a pop fly in left field, and one by Tyler Burtt, tracking down a ground ball in shallow center and making a perfect throw to Stewart Burman at first. Burtt took to the mound for the fifth and sixth innings, and once again was helped by his team in shutting down Aurora's attempt at a comeback. Aurora tried to steal second in order to get a runner into scoring position, but catcher Brinovec threw a perfect strike to second baseman Love who applied the tag, ending the inning, and ultimately Aurora's comeback.

Player of the game for Rhind Electric was Travis Brinovec, for his timely hits, and impressive defence.

Diamond Dreams Camp

Mike Mallory, King City Secondary School head baseball coach, echoed the comments of co-camp director Tom Ellison when he thanked the 22 participants of this year's eighth annual Diamond Dreams Baseball Camp for their hard work, and for continuing to send good ball players to his high school program.

The one-week instruction camp produced the following award winners.

Senior Camp

Best Defender - Ryan Forletta; Top Hitter - Josh Lipscombe; Most Improved Player - Brett Cummings; Coach's Award Winner - Armand Sanguini; and Camp MVP - Mateo Perone.

Junior Camp

Best Defender - Jesse Schneider; Top Hitter - Travis Brinovec; Most Improved Player - Francesco Amantea; Coaches Award Winner - Andreas Kentris; and Camp MVP - Joseph Perone and Marshall Perone (co-winners).

Player of the Week

The KTBA Player of the Week Award goes to Daniel Pignataro from the TVS Development Corp Sr. Rookie team. Daniel was perfect at the plate this week and made some key defensive plays. He is the type of player that can be counted on to get a hit, each and every time he comes to bat. Congratulations Daniel.