Season ending tournament in Aurora for KTBA teams

September 3, 2014 · 0 Comments

The Wyndsong peewees, with a 9-3 victory over Sports International, captured the KTBA championship.
By Simon Lloyd
The boys and girls of summer have wrapped up another successful season of KTBA baseball!
A big thanks and congratulations goes out to all the players, coaches, parents, sponsors and organizers for all their support. 2014 was the first year of the interlock with Aurora AMBA and it was a true pleasure working with everyone in that organization.
The KTBA will host their annual Wind-Up barbeque on Thursday Sept. 4 for players and their families.

Husky Player of the Week

This week’s KTBA Player Of The Week is Jackson Cunneyworth. Jackson wins a commemorative certificate and a $35 iTunes gift card courtesy of Husky Injection Molding Systems in Bolton. Congratulations Jackson!

Senior Rookie

The Prism Painting Senior Rookie Cobras played a make-up playoff game against fellow King rivals In This Corner Bar & Grille on Aug 23.
As it was a rematch, the game started where the teams had left it before the rain out, bottom of the 3rd.
Prism Painting Cobras took the win 12-9. Prism continued tournament play that same day against Aurora Team 2.
The Cobras started off slowly with no runs in the first but the bats finally woke up and mercied every subsequent inning in an 18-1 romp. The hits came from every player but most improved bat was from Ryder with 3 hits and 3 RBIs. On defence the Prism Cobras were also hot with Noah G at second base catching two pop-fly balls in a row – in the same spot! Coach Z jokingly called out to Noah G not to move his feet and you’ll get the 3rd out. Sure enough Noah G listened and the ball was hit not 3 feet from him! Gianluca ended the game with a double play.
The entire team did extremely well at the plate and on defence throughout the last leg of their season, winning 4 in a row and claiming the top seed going into the semi-final of the tournament.
In that game played on Sunday, Prism was missing a few players and had just enough to start the game. Despite the limited roster the hits were big and strong but the Aurora opponents were just too strong on defence and caught everything the Cobras hit at them. Gianluca hit a home run and the Cobras were starting to mount a come back in the fourth inning but some close calls didn’t go their way. The game ended at a score of 10-4 Aurora.
In baseball it’s not always the strongest team that wins but the strongest team that day, and today Aurora was the better team. Good luck in the finals, Aurora!
Coach Z spoke to the team after the game and told the players they played amazing, averaging over 15 runs per game and improving immensely over the course of the season. Coach Z would like to thank Coach Sam, Coach Frank Sr, Coach Tony and all the parents for helping out. The Prism Painting crew is only losing 3 players next year and should have a strong 2015 team. Coach Z can’t wait until spring training!

Peewee
Wyndsong Farms

After finishing first in the playoff round robins, the Wyndsong peewee Cobras were prepared for the elimination games.
The quarter-final game was played on Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Aurora Leisure Complex.
The first 4 innings against their Aurora opponent, Invis Mortgage, was a pitching duel with Jackson Cunneyworth and Ben Brown striking out 10 batters combined. The Invis pitchers were also throwing strikes, making the Cobras work for their slim 4-2 lead heading into the fifth. Marshall Moore took the mound, striking out a pair. One run crossed the plate, with the final out a heads-up play by Logan Hall at third, closing the gap to one run. Jesse Becker showed patience and was granted a lead off walk, followed by Cunneyworth who also reached on balls.
Brown brought his teammates home with a 2-run single, giving the Cobras a more comfortable lead. Hall scored Brown with his single and the Wyndsong team claimed a 7-3 victory as time was called at the end of the fifth.
The Sunday morning semi-final game at ALC Aug. 24 was going to be more challenging than the quarter-final game as the opponent, Dynamic Funds, had pitching and patience during the round robin. Solid defensive plays by Devin Wells at third and Jesse Becker at first, along with aggressive offence, gave the Cobras an 11-7 lead heading into the open fourth inning.
Jackson Cunneyworth left the Aurora opponent stymied at the plate, shutting them out. The Wyndsong team led off the home side of the 4th with walks by Becker and Matthew Testani, followed by an impressive 3-run homer by Cunneyworth. Brown took first on a walk, with both Brendan Ralph and Greg Long adding RBI singles. With time called after the top of the fifth, the Cobras continued their playoff success with a 17-8 victory.
Later that day, the Wyndsong Cobras lined up against the only team who handed them a loss all season, their local rivals the King Sports International Cobras. The all-King final on had all the ingredients of a great game with friendly rivalries and two strong teams.
Both teams had to manage their pitchers with pitch count limits and injuries. Ben Brown took the mound to start the game, but Sports International couldn’t figure him out and only managed one run in the first two innings.
Conversely, the Wyndsong team showed patience with 8 walks and an impressive RBI single by Daniel Martin during the first 2 innings. Both teams had efficient 3rd innings with no runs scored, with Marshall Moore on the mound for the Wyndsong team.
The Sports International team knew they needed offense in the open fourth as they were down 8-1. A lead off single, followed by a triple and another single put a couple of runs on the board. Wells relieved Moore on the mound after reaching his pitch count maximum, and fetched the final out covering home, tagging the runner. Jackson Cunneyworth shutout Sports International with three straight strikeouts in the fifth, giving the Wyndsong peewee Cobras the Championship with a 9-3 victory.
MVP for the playoffs goes to the entire team, plus their sponsor Wyndsong Farm and their coaches Rusty Testani, Dave Long, Joe Becker and Steve Hall for all their hard work and dedication this season. They would also like to thank Lisa-Marie Steenhoek for managing everyone, and Pam Brown for keep score and contributing recaps to the paper.
Congratulations to the team for an exciting year of baseball

Peewee
Sports International

What a full weekend of baseball. The King Cobras peewee team, sponsored by Sports International, played a game on Saturday, Aug. 23 and two games on Sunday, Aug. 24.
The boys worked hard the first game with only eight players. Great pitching by Justin Topp in the first and second innings with five strikeouts in total and a play to first base.
Patrick Buffa pitched a strong third inning with no runs in for Aurora. Owen Witten pitched the fourth and fifth inning, with five strikeouts. Lots of great hits by the Cobras. The final score was 10-1 in King’s favour.
The second game of the weekend was just as exciting. Aaron Fraser started the game pitching with two strikeouts. There was a great play at home where a player from Aurora tried to steal home but catcher Cameron Kokelj grabbed the ball and threw it to Aaron Fraser who was covering home plate for an out.
Offensively in the first inning Nicholas Petrungaro hit the ball and was caught between first and second. With Aurora trying to catch him they over threw and Nicholas was able to make it all the way home.
Justin Topp pitched the second and part of the third inning, sharing with Patrick Buffa. Great hits by the team to bring in a total of nine runs for a final score of 9-8, their second win of the weekend. They were now off to the final game against the rival King team, Wyndsong Farm. There was much excitement in the air as the King vs. King final began at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The Sports International team started the game off with a triple by Nicolas Petrungaro and a run by Cameron Kokelj in the 1st inning. Patrick Buffa led off the team’s pitching and grabbed a solid hit and threw to first base for the out, but the inning ended 5-1 in favour of the other team.
The Sports International Cobras tried to catch up in the 2nd inning, but it was not to be. Pitcher Justin Topp ended the inning after striking out 2 batters. The 3rd inning saw the Sports International Cobras again trying to turn the game around. Ben Harbridge hit a single to center field. Aiden Naworynski was able run on a dropped ball to get to first and Patrick was walked. The strong pitching from Marshall Moore stopped the Sports International team from getting any runs. In the bottom of the 3rd, Tanner Charlton picked up a grounder and fielded the ball to Nicolas Petrungaro for an out at first. Justin Topp wrapped up the inning with two strike outs so that no runs were allowed.
Justin Topp started the 4th inning off with a single. Nicolas got his second triple of the game to get Topp home. A single by Ethan Lane and a walk with Jonathan Brunato showed that the Sports International cobras had not given up. Strong pitching from Owen Witten allowed the other team only 1 run.
The pressure was on for the 5th inning as it started with a score of 9-3. But pitcher Jackson Cunneyworth shut down the Sports International team as he struck out the first three batters, bringing the game to an end.
But what a great season! Special thanks to coaches John Hall, Connie Fraser, Rick Brunato and Mike Murphy for all of their hard work and dedication to these players. Thanks also to Lisa Kokelj for keeping the team organized and making sure that games ran smoothly.