Maple Leafs slow down red-hot Royals

By Rob Vona

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Guelph Royals on Saturday afternoon at Hastings Stadium by a score of 6-1. 

The Maple Leafs have won back-to-back games for the first time this season and improve to 4-7 on the year. 

Toronto opened up the scoring early as first baseman Jordan Castaldo opened the game up with a double, he would later score on a sacrifice-fly from outfielder Marcus Knecht. 

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning that the Royals got to Maple Leafs starting pitcher Marek Deska, with a runner on first base shortstop Brando Leroux ripped a double into the outfield to score the runner, knotting the game up at one. 

Deska’s day came to an end after five brilliant innings, surrendering just the one earned run one five hits. 

In the seventh inning it was catcher Dionysius Chialtas who gave the Maple Leafs the lead yet again, his first hit of his Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) career went down as an RBI triple. 

Chialtas later scored on an RBI single from catcher Justin Marra, making it a 3-1 lead for Toronto heading into the eighth inning. 

Maple Leafs relief pitchers Max Lanoue and Julian Valdez were on point. 

Lanoue breezed through the sixth and seventh inning, allowing just one hit and sitting down five of the nine batters he faced on strikes, he recorded his first win of his IBL career. 

Valdez worked through the eighth and ninth inning and was provided with three more runs of support in the top of the ninth, highlighted by an RBI double from Knecht - who finished the game with two RBIs on two hits. 

The Maple Leafs return to Dominico Field tomorrow afternoon to take on the Welland Jackfish at 2:00 p.m..