Congratulations to the Bloordale Rookieball 1 Team who have now won three tournaments in a row after winning the Toronto Baseball Association’s West playoff this past weekend.
The Bloordale team entered the playoffs with a 35-5 record, and a perfect record against teams from the local area, but after a loss to Royal York at Royal York’s park in the second game of the playoff tourney the boys had to dig deep to ensure that their pre-season goal of winning this playoff tournament was met.
The Bloordale 1 boys started their final day of the playoffs with a semi-final victory against a much-improved hard-working Bloordale 2 side in a tough showdown. However, with the morning win, Bloordale 1 still needed to beat a strong rested Royal York team two times in a row to win it all.
In the first game of the finals, the Bloordale 1 boys started off the game with some incredible defensive plays. This positive momentum carried over to their bats and they cruised to a 14-3 win. Because it was a double-elimination tournament this big win meant the two teams would have to play for the championship in a one game winner-take-all showdown.
In the final match the signs of playing a third straight game in a day in the sunshine was apparent, but the Bloordale boys always responded to any offensive display that the big Royal York bats were able to muster in a positive way. This game was tight all the way through. In fact it was so tight that after Bloordale 1 couldn’t score in the bottom half of the 7th inning the game went to extra innings.
In the extra frame Bloordale was able to escape an initial lead-off single with some super work by the infield and outfield players. This left the game up to the Bloordale bats, as once again they only needed one run to win. However, this time Bloordale wasted no time to ensure they got the job done. Bloordale’s leadoff hitter belted a ball to deep centerfield and got a game-winning walk-off home run. It was definitely a dramatic ending to an exciting well-played game.
With the win Bloordale Rookieball 1 now automatically advances to play in the 12 team Provincial Championships on Labour Day Weekend. Royal York will also be playing in this championship round as they are the tournament hosts. Good luck to all of our local boys!