King Cobras knock it out of the park

July 2, 2013 · 0 Comments

Husky Bantam King Cobras were the championship finalists in the Vaughan Mid-Season Classic tournament held on June 22-23.

By Wayne Rudnitski

It was both a busy and rewarding week for the KTBA King Cobras baseball teams. Overall they strung up 11 victories against only 2 losses.
Two teams did very well in the Vaughan Mid-Season Classic Tournament. The Husky King Cobras bantam team lost a heart-breaker in the final while the Omnivex King Cobras senior rookie team ran out of gas in the semi-final after running the table in the round robin section of the tournament. Read on to catch up on those games and the always entertaining weekly regular season roundup.

Junior Rookie

The Rona King Cobras continued their valiant efforts and came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory last Tuesday, June 18. Their game against Vaughan Pro Green was a “defensive” struggle and was ultimately decided on an Ethan Di Giorgio base hit in the second inning that scored Jackson Ferguson for the game’s only run. In addition to Di Giorgio’s clutch base hit for the win, Noah Gidaro, Andrea and Adrian De Melis and Cohen D’Ulisse also contributed with base hits. Great team effort Team Rona!

Senior Rookie

The Omnivex King Cobras opened the senior rookie tournament on Friday, June 14 against fellow KTBA team RCC Waterproofing in Nobleton. Omnivex had its best hitting performance of the season with every player recording at least one hit. Daniel Sansone and Nathaniel Bannister led the way with four hits and four runs each, as Omnivex cruised to an 11-1 win.
The Cobras hit parade continued the next day in the first game of their double-header against Vaughan Ontario Trillium. Brogan Grammenz, Massimo Amodio and Joseph Carvalho each finished with three hits and two runs as the Cobras continued their offensive explosion with the 11-0 victory.
In Game 2 of their doubleheader, Omnivex took a 3-0 lead against Vaughan Marcants. With their Vaughan opponent threatening, the Cobras defence was on display. Tanner Budway made a tough throw to Jeffery Long, who made a great catch to record the out at 1st base and end the threat. The Cobras would go onto win 8-2 and would finish the round robin portion of the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record, advancing to the semi-finals.
Rain washed out all games on Sunday which meant Omnivex would face Sheraton the following weekend in the semi-finals. The Cobras offence picked up right where it left off the previous week. William Swanson capped off a five-run 2nd inning with his second RBI of the game to make it 10-5 Cobras. By the third inning it was becoming clear that the sweltering conditions were getting to the young Cobras as they began to fade at the plate. Vaughan outscored them 10-2 in the final two innings, to come away with a 15-12 win. Despite falling just a little short of advancing to the championship game, the Cobras had a great tournament and did the KTBA proud.
On June 26, the Omnivex King Cobras took a trip to Routley Park to take on Vaughan Superior. The Cobras came out swinging as Nathaniel Bannister hit a 2 run homer which gave Omnivex the lead in the first inning. Big hits were followed up by Carvalho, Sansone, Tyler Oletic, and William Swanson.
It was in the third inning when Carvalho stepped up to plate with bases loaded and blasted the ball far into centre field. He tripled, and brought in Tanner Budway, Oletic and Swanson. However, Superior would not go down without a fight as they cashed a few runs in the third inning.
Omnivex showed good defensive skills as they only allowed Superior to score 4 runs. It was hurler Swanson who scooped up a grounder, threw it over the pitching machine and got it to first baseman Sean Gunnip to get the final out of the game securing victory for Omnivex with a final score of 12-4.
The Player of the Game was Joseph Carvalho who demonstrated his power by crushing two balls into centre field, clearing the bases, and bringing in a total of 5 runs in his three at bats.
The RCC Waterproofing King Cobras won a tight 4-3 game on Monday, June 24 against Vaughan Marchants. Ryan with a hit and wheels beat a throw to first. Luke Parolin had 2 solid hits and scored a run. Gianluca and Daniel both went 2 for 2 at the plate and both scored runs. Great defence was provided by Zachary and Elio. Player of the Game Jonathan DiGiorgio flashed some great hitting and caught a pop fly to get the second out and turned and ran to second to get the runner that advanced to 3rd base for a double play to end the game! Coaches Anthony, Sam and Danny were very happy with efforts all kids put in on Monday night.

Peewee

On June 24, the Grignano Racco Chartered Accountants King Cobras faced the Vaughan Colaricci team at home in King City and kept their winning streak alive with a 17-8 victory! The Cobras flashed some leather and shut out the opponent in the first inning. Starter Ben Brown nailed two outs with a punchout and a grab and throw to Nick Galifi at first.
Catcher Luca Panziera helped the cause by tagging out a runner trying to steal home. In the bottom of the first the Grignano Racco squad rang up 2 runs when Marshall Moore smashed a double, bringing Brown across the dish, and then used his wheels to steal home.
In the second inning, Ryan Sutherland-Pace took to the mound and limited Vaughan to 1 run with a pair of strikeouts and a play to Daniel Grignano at first base. The Cobras’ bats awakened in this inning, as Brown and Moore crushed doubles and Sutherland-Pace spanked a single to bring Sutherland-Pace, Panziera, Brown, Moore and Grignano home.
Moore hit the hill in the third inning, and held the opponent to 2 runs with two smokin’ whiffs. Centre fielder Daniil Bacalear also secured an out with a nice defensive play to Galifi at second base.
In the bottom of the third the Grignano Racco team continued to rally at the plate and cashed 5 more runs. Tristan Vosylius, Sutherland-Pace, Panziera, Brown and Grignano all crossed the dish on singles by Panziera, Grignano and Galifi. Julian Siracusa also chalked up a ribeye this inning when he took one for the team!
Vaughan came on strong in the fourth inning, and managed to score 5 runs despite Panziera throwing cheese on the mound. However, it was too late! Grignano Racco had already sealed their win, and went on to widen the gap in the final inning by chalking up 5 more runs on singles by Moore, Grignano and Siracusa. The Player of the Game goes to Ryan Sutherland-Pace for his solid performance on the mound and for going 3-for-4 at the plate.

Bantam

The Husky King Cobras played five games in their mid-season tournament in Vaughan this past weekend. The tournament saw the Husky team achieve outstanding results. However, the Cobras ran out of innings in their bid for a comeback which saw Vaughan Krcmar top Husky 9-7 in the Championship game. The players all performed admirably despite the harsh weather conditions. The Vaughan bantam division convener commented that, “although the day was a hot one, both teams scorched the field with their offense and great displays of defense.”
Husky showed refined demeanor and healthy team work ethic. The bantam convener who not only offered his congratulations for an outstanding and entertaining game but further proclaimed that the Husky Cobras demonstrated a great show of class and good sportsmanship throughout.
The bantam Cobras were graciously awarded silver medals recognizing their second place standing in the tournament.
Congratulations to team Husky Cobras for how they carried themselves and represented their community and team sponsor by having fun and engaging in the challenge of the tournament games!

Player of the Week

The KTBA Cobra Player of the Week honours goes to Ethan Di Giorgio of the Rona King Cobras Junior Rookie team. Di Giorgio drove in the only run to score in an epic defensive struggle resulting in a 1-0 victory for the Rona squad.