Mosquito squad finally posts first victory of the season | www.kingsentinel.com

It was evident from the first pitch that the young King team had come to play, as five of the first nine batters made solid contact at the plate, and successfully reached base. Nailing welldeserved singles were Cameron Hudspith, Andrew Sansone, Brock Walters and Gregory Long. Jessie Becker thrilled the crowd with a grand-slam, which brought a thunderous cheer. Defensively, the Luxury Coach team were spectacular as they stopped the Aurora team time after time. Hudspith was kept busy patrolling the middle infield, and Steven Dimitroff tracked down the long balls hit to left field. As the game progressed, and the Cobras changed up their positions, Anthony Grande took over at first-base and made some amazing dives to stop the ball from getting past him, making two unassisted outs.

The Luxury Coach Player of the game was Erin Becker, who showed her speed in left field getting to any ball hit her way, was quick on the base path and had a great night at the plate.

Mosquito

The Greenside Drive Landscaping team finally got their first win of the season.

In a come-back win that was their best all around game as a team, they notched a well earned 12-8 victory. Aydden Almadi continued his impressive eight-game hit streak with a stand up triple. Nick Bells double in the first inning drove in two runs to help Greenside Drive tie the game 5-5. Patrick Warner pitched the second inning, allowing just two Bradford runs, as his defence was sharp behind him. Nick Bell made two great plays at second base, including a throw to home to prevent a run from scoring. The bats went to work in the second, when Greenside Drive took a 9-7 lead, scoring four runs with hits from Blair Monahan, Jack Mull, Daniel Pignataro and Daniel Macgregor. In the top of the fourth, with his team holding a 12-8 lead, Bell was able to strike out three of the four batters he faced, shutting down the opposition and sealing the victory for his team.

Each member of Greenside Drive Landscaping deserved to be player of the game as it was a total team effort, with excellent defence, batting and great pitching. A special note to Aydden Almadi for continuing his hitting streak, driving in three runs with his triple.

Peewee

King City Auto split the two games they played last week against Bradford's Flex n Gate.

They won their first game last Monday by an 11- 10 score, and lost a close one in Bradford 10-7. Their home game was punctuated with many walks, base stealing and some timely hitting.

The Cobras scored seven runs in the sixth inning on walks by Andreas Kentris and David Granton, who were brought home on a double by J.P. Cappella. The hitting continued, with Joshua Hollings and Daniel Quintieri belting out doubles, and Christian Olivieri scoring Gavin Datt, who had reached on a walk, by connecting for a single.

It was King versus King last Wednesday as FPS Technology Solutions (K3) and Rona Cashway (K1) played a close game, at least in the early innings. Mathew Ardizzi (K3) was a force on the mound, racking up four strikeouts, in the two innings he pitched. Entering the fifth inning, Rona held a slim 4-3 lead, but that was about to change as FPS Technology Solutions exploded for 11 runs. Aggressive base running by Anthony Companoni, and Anthony Fracassi complemented the great hitting by the K3 team.

Player of the game for FPS Technology Solutions was Austin Heffernan; he was rock solid in the field, belted out two hard hits for two RBIs and scored two runs.

Bantam

The Rind Electric bantam team hosted Georgina Thursday in Nobleton, and put another game in the win column with an 11-5 victory.

Scott Rhind was the starting pitcher for the Cobras and did an admirable job, recording three strikeouts, and allowing only two runs in the two innings he was on the mound. Marshall Perone pitched the middle two innings and he recorded four strikeouts and again Georgina only managed to score two runs. Helping out their team defensively were Austin Almadi at second base, knocking down a hard hit ground ball and making a perfect throw to Kelli Beer on first to record the final out of the first inning, and Dennis Orr at third base, working in tandem with catcher Danton Brinovec to pick off a Georgina base runner who had strayed too far from the bag.

The hits were hard to come by in the opening innings, but as the game progressed the bats of the Rhind Electric team seemed to come alive. Orr, in the lead-off spot, reached base on a single and a walk, Marshall Perone was two-for-three with two singles, a walk, and two RBIs. Beer hit a long double and Aidan Romeril reached on a walk and a single. The big bat of the night belonged to Brinovec, who started the game with a double, hit a home run in the second inning and ended the game with a single. Taylor Joseph came in as the closer in the game and struck out the first batter he faced, the next batter reached base on a dropped third strike, and came home on a single. It was the only run Georgina was going to score in the bottom of the fifth as the next two batters grounded out, one to the pitcher and one to the short stop. It was another well played game by the bantams.

In previous action, on a night that felt more like early fall than early summer, the Rhind Electric team travelled to Sutton High for their first meeting of the season against Northview Collision of Georgina.

On this night, it was all about the pitchers who effectively shut down Georgina and scored a 10-1 victory. The Cobra pitching was outstanding, collectively pitching a nohitter, while ringing up 15 strikeouts and issuing just two walks. Stephen Leonard started on the mound for Rhind Electric, striking out the first three batters he faced on just 12 pitches. In the next inning, after walking the first batter, who stole home to score the opposition's only run, Leonard struck out the next three batters. J.P. Saxe was the next Cobra to take to the mound and he was equally impressive, as he struck out the three batters he faced. The fourth inning saw the leadoff batter for Northview reach first base on a dropped third strike and the next batter reached on a walk, but that was all the base runners Georgina would have for the game, as Saxe sat down the next three batters in order. Brinovec was the closer for the night, and he followed his team mate's example, throwing just 11 pitches to record three strikeouts. Offensively, Orr had a good night at the plate reaching base twice on walks and belting out a double in the fifth to score two runs. Joseph was two-for-three with a walk, two singles and three RBIs.

Congratulations to Nick Bell, who is King Township Baseball Association Player of the Week for June 25. He plays for the Greenside Drive Landscaping mosquito team and was a major reason that his team recorded their first of what should be many wins this past week. In their game against John Eek & Son, Bell drove in two runs with a double, made great plays at second base to keep the game close, and when the game was on the line, he took to the mound and shut down the opposition to get the victory. Keep up the good work Nick.

Congratulations to last week's recipient of the King Township Player of the Week Award, Magnus Krever from the Schomberg IGA senior rookie team and the senior rookie select team. Magnus is the catcher for the Select team, and in his first outing at this position he performed admirably. Keep up the great work Magnus.

Baseball camp

The ninth annual Diamond Dreams Baseball Camp will take place this summer in Nobleton and once again the young players will have a chance to learn baseball skills from two excellent instructors, Mike Mallory the Head Baseball coach with King City Secondary School, and Tom Ellison a valuable coach with the KTBA.

If you are interested in signing up your son or daughter for the camp, please contact your team liaison or call Tom Ellison at (905) 939-2985 for more information.

The senior camp (ages 13 and up) runs from July 7 to July 11 and the senior-junior camp (ages 10-12) will be held from July 14 to July 18. The camp takes place at the Nobleton Baseball Complex from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The King Township Baseball Association would like to wish our senior rookie Select team the best of luck as they travel to West Hill this weekend to participate in a tournament.