Barrie Red Sox

Team YSBA finished with a 2-2-1 record and the team had their ups and downs. The final standing for the division was as follows:

1. Toronto BA 3-1-1 (loss to LDBA, Tie with YSBA)
2. Central Ontario (Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville) BA 3-2 (loss to TBA and WCBA)
3. London and District BA 3-2 (loss to NDBA and COBA)
4. YSBA 2-2-1 (loss to COBA and LDBA)
5. Western Counties BA (Sarnia and surrounding area)  2-3
6. Niagara and District BA 1-4 

Day 1 Game 1 (8AM) – Tie: TBA 5 – YSBA 5: YSBA held a 5-4 lead going into the 7th. TBA tied the game with 1 out following back-to-back errors on a grounder that got by 3B and a grounder back to the pitcher that was thrown over 1B. In the bottom of the 7^th Lucas Italiano doubled for YSBA with one out. The next batter hit a deep sac fly to right (2 out). Italiano tagged and went to 3B. Toronto appealed to 2B and Italiano was called out for leaving early, ending the game and leaving Dane Gordon (the team's hottest hitter) in the on-deck circle. Still not sure how the base Ump saw the runner given he was watching the catch. A tough way to end game one.

Day 1 Game 2 (130PM): Loss: COBA 12 – YSBA 7.  YSBA came out of the gates strong and held a 7-2 lead.  Going into the bottom of the 6^th inning things got closer with the team holding a 7-5 lead. YSBA gave up 7 runs in the bottom of the 6^th assisted by a miss play on afly ball in the outfield - the result was 4 unearned runs.

Day 1 Game 3 (8PM) - Loss: LDBA 13 - YSBA 7: By far the most difficult loss.  LDBA was coming off of a Game 2, 5-4 loss to NDBA. This game was a pitchers duel with the game 0-0 after 3 innings. Chris Leslie was at the top of his game.  Having little success at the plate LDBA began to bunt. The two hitter lead off the inning and dropped a solid bunt single. LDBA followed with three more bunts which resulted in errors.  LDBA scored 8 unearned in the 4^th. YSBA responded posting 7 runs on the board over the next two innings for an 8-7 game. In the 6^th inning a dropped fly ball in CF with one out opened the door for LDBA. The next batter hit a routine DP ball to 2B that should have ended the inning. Second Base could not get a handle and dropped the ball. A Balk, WP, HBP later and LDBA scored 4 more unearned runs.

Day 2 Game 4 (1045 AM) - Win: YSBA 6 – WCBA 2. YSBA has 10 hits and solid defence. The pitching was once again excellent (Pullen/Nasello) as the team faced 7 batters over the minimum. Note: WCBA had earlier defeated COBA and played most teams close.

Day 2 - Game 5 (4PM) – Win: YSBA 18 – NDBA 9. A game that was not a close as the score indicates. The boys held an 18-5 lead in the 5th.

Overall there is no doubt this was a great experience for all involved. We managed to use all our players and eveyone seemed happy and had a great time despite not advancing to the medal round.  We know where we came up short and things may have been different had we played these teams in reverse order.   Overall the pitching was solid.  The team committed 16 ERRORS over five games on pretty routine plays. The team executed a squeeze and several hit/run calls.

In terms of individual performance two players stood out:

• Dane Gordon (Barrie) 7/14 with 3 doubles and 5 walks and batted in the 5 spot.
• Jordan Romano (Markham) 8/15 with 2 walks and 3-HBP (Lucas Italiano lead the team with 5 – HBP). Romano batted mostly in the 4 spot. Romano played catcher and threw out 5 runners including the lead off hitter for COBA for the games first out.
• Honourable mention to Brad Pullan (Newmarket) and Brett Nasello (Markham), both provided excellent pitching!!