Playoff action starts in local baseball loop
The Inside Pitch
By Lee-Ann Brinovec

T-Ball

These young ball players have been practising since May, and were quite anxious to put their new skills to the test in an actual game.

T-Ball team 2, coached by Mary Grande and Sabrina Critelli, hosted the friendly game this past week at the lower diamond in King City. Their competition was the King team 1, coached by Chad Ferguson. The parents were eager to see what their children had learned, and they were not disappointed.

Team 2 got their bats working from the start, as all the players made it to first base and beyond. Anthony Critelli and Anthony Grande must have been paying attention to their older brothers, because they were both hitting the ball to the green. Teammates Masey Lloyd, Jackson Maier and Joshua Longa all followed their lead, getting solid base hits. When they took to the field, their many practices of catching and throwing had really paid off as they got the ball back to the infield quickly and they manned their bases with expertise.

It was a fun night, and really showed how baseball games should be played; lots of fun, laughs and showing off their "stuff."

The King Township Baseball Association (KTBA) has some really great young stars and their names will be mentioned again for many years to come.

Junior rookie

The sun was blazing and the heat was radiating off the well-manicured infield at the lovely Pottageville Park last Tuesday as our Tile Source (K1) junior rookie's faced Aurora's Home Hardware in the first game of the playoffs.

The King team appeared to be focused, even in warm-ups, and once the first pitch was launched they took the lead and never looked back.

The first inning saw Jessie Becker roaming the outfield and using her strong arm, to hold the Aurora team to singles. Nicholas Lauriola played a defensive pitching position and combined with Jordan Chantiam on first to make some impressive outs. Lucas Critelli used his speed to chase down sizzling line drives on second. The inning ended with a heads-up play by Erin Becker at home plate, getting an out on what would have been the goahead run for Aurora. At the plate, Austin Anderson put everything he had into a crushing hit that earned him a double, which was duplicated moments later by Critelli and then topped off by a home run by Emily Brinovec.

As the game progressed and fielding positions were shuffled, Aurora could not find a weak spot in the lineup. Greg Long took over second base and stopped anything that was headed up the middle, and Lauriola came through under pressure at home plate to make the out on what would have again been Aurora's goahead run. It looked like the nemesis of the Aurora batters would be our strong King catchers.

Batting 1.000 on the night were Jessie Becker, Jake Hansen, Rory Paric, Angelo Grande, Anderson, and Critelli.

Player of the game honors went to Tile Sources' youngest ball player, Austin Anderson. This young man has once again found his groove at the plate going two-for-two and was a reliable fielder in this close game.

This has been a great season for this young team, and each player has greatly improved, as we finish with the regular season and head into the playoffs a special note of thanks is owed to Assistant Coaches Alison Keilty Erin Chantiam, and Brennan Anderson.

Mosquito

The last regular season game for the Armstrong Petroleums (K1) team was against King City Auto (K2) in Nobleton last Tuesday. K1 team finished their season on a winning note, handing their fellow Cobras a 15-9 loss, brining their season totals to nine wins, eight losses and one tie.

The bats of Armstrong Petroleums made the difference in the game, with Daniel Luccia leading the way, cranking out a two-run homers. Andrew Cippolone drove in three runs with a triple, Mathew Ardizzi and Kyle Symond crossed home plate twice each, and the girl power combination of Kayla Blackbird and Brianna Forletta provided four runs for Armstrong. In her first start as pitcher, Forletta got some much-appreciated help from her teammates and was able to get the three outs; only surrendering one run. Part of that team defence came from Luccia at third and Nicholas Bell at home, combining to make a picture perfect out. They held King City Auto scoreless in the third on the strength of Alex Brunato in the outfield.

Armstrong Petroleums played host to Green Point Lasers Thursday and came away with a very decisive 12-6 victory in their first playoff game of the season.

Taking the mound in the first, Francesco Amanteo shut down the Aurora batters in order and relied on his teammates to get out of the second inning, only allowing one run. When Armstrong Petroleums got their chance to bat, Luccia brought in the first two runs of the game on a long triple, and Brianna Forletta contributed two more when she connected for her second home run of the season. The story of the game was Joshua Hollings, who came to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second and with a full count, smashed out a grandslam, the first by an Armstrong Petroleums player this year. Hollings also did his part defensively, taking the mound in the final inning and closing out the game without allowing Green Point Laser any runs.

Bantam rep Cobras break

losing streak

After a series of heartbreaking losses over the past couple of weeks, our minor bantams put it all together in the second game of their double header against North Toronto last Tuesday in Nobleton.

In assistant coach Steve Lipscombe's words, "It's so nice to see everyone have the game of their lives at the same time."

Having lost 7-2 to North York, and 9-6 to the Markham Mariners, with Joel Winer on the mound for both tough losses, it was Ryan Forletta's turn in the opening game Tuesday to try and turn things around. Unfortunately, whereas our bats had been coming around as of late and the defense tightening up, both aspects of the game deserted Forletta in this 15-0 shellacking. He deserved better, hurling four innings before the wheels fell completely off the team wagon.

In the nightcap, it was Josh Lipscombe taking the ball from the manager after sitting out a week with a concussion. From the get-go the Cobras looked like a different team. Lipscombe went a complete game, striking out six, allowing only six hits and a walk. In the field the defence was airtight with Daniel Lisi in centre, Forletta at short and Danton Brinovec at second base looking particularly impressive. Offensively, the boys rolled six runs in the opening frame and two more in the second on their way to a convincing 16-4 thrashing of the team that had humiliated them two hours before.

Lisi continued his offensive outburst from the lead off spot with two RBIs, Forletta, Steve LaVerde and Winer all had two as well, while Brandon Oukes erupted with a season high four runs batted in. Lipscombe meanwhile went four-forfour at the plate.

Player of the Week

The King Township player of the week award goes to the minor bantam rep Daniel Lisi. He continues to shine both in the field, running down fly balls in centre and at the plate, driving in six runs alone this week. Congratulations Daniel, and continued success.

Sponsor of the Week

The KTBA would like to thank this week's sponsor for their continued support of minor ball in King Township. TVS Development Corp. is not only the sponsor of the senior rookie house league team, they also became a generous sponsor of the recent senior rookie select tournament that took place a few weeks ago.