TBA's - August 15-17, 2014

This is what the team(s) have been preparing all Season for...the TBA's (Toronto Baseball Association)!!!

While the majority of teenagers are thinking about opening day for the CNE, the boys are focused on winning their first TBA game tonight at Stan Wadlow Park!

"The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is Canada’s largest community event and one of the top 10 agricultural fairs in North America.  Founded in 1879 as the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, the CNE has enjoyed a distinguished history as a “showcase of the nation”. It was “the place” where people came to experience the best and the brightest from the latest innovations in technology and commercial products to the greatest performers of the time.  The name of the fair was changed from the Toronto Industrial Exhibition to the Canadian National Exhibition in 1912, to better represent what the fair had become: A Show Window of the Nation." 

Today the CNE sadly signifies the end of Summer...even though it runs for 2 weeks, it ends the day before school reopens!

 

It's only August 15th but I had to go looking for a sweater this morning!  I am not sure what happened to the sunshine and warm temperatures today...it should be interesting for all the people going on the rides at the CNE today!

 

Game 1 - RY Cardinals vs. East York Bulldogs (Friday, August 15, 2014)

 

When we arrive at the field the game between the North York Blues and the North Toronto Athletics was still going on.  At the end of the game it was hard not to notice how happy the Blues were, having just won the game.  If I am correct, the A's was the team to watch.  Our boys have a 1-1 record against the Blues, and they just beat the No. 1 team.  Just goes to show that anything can happen in these tournaments...this is definitely a game changer for sure!

 

The game began at 8:30 p.m. and by the time we made ourselves comfortable, we realized that it was really cold.

 

Our boys were up to bat first in the first inning and had a few nice hits but couldn't score any runs.  When our defence took the field, Aaron remained in the dugout.  I knew in advance, and from the way things happened in past tournaments, that he would be sitting first and he may not enter the game until after the 4th inning.  The Bulldogs were able to get their first run after a nice hit in the outfield and took the lead.

 

In the second inning we got our first run after # 97 hits a nice triple and then the Bulldogs' back catcher overthrows to third and # 97 is able to score!  Although we got more players in scoring position, we didn't get any more runs.

 

In the bottom of the second, our pitcher was getting upset with the Umpire as he wasn't calling his strikes, but the inning still ended before the Bulldogs could score any runs.

 

Neither teams got any runs in the third innings.

 

We got another run in the 4th before it ended.  The same defence went out for the bottom of the 4th and it was a quick inning with no runs for the Bulldogs.

 

The Bulldogs sent in a new pitcher for the top of the 5th and our guys were able to get one run before it was over.  The Bulldogs didn't get any runs in the bottom of the 5th.  The score is now 3-1, for us.

 

Our boys brought in another run in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 4-1.  When the defence took the field, it slowly dawned on us that Aaron is still sitting and it doesn't look like they plan on sending him in.  I have to admit I was a bit upset and lost focus on the game.

 

The game ended and I wasn't sure what the score was.  Someone said 6-3, for us. 

 

We were confused about the lineup and the fact that Aaron was the only kid on the team who didn't go out on the field tonight.  What happened after was very upsetting for us and because I never intended for my blog to be negative, I will not write about the situation that unfolded...and instead focus on the good things!

 

I am a very calm Baseball Mom but there are 3 things in this world that mean the most to me...and NO ONE messes with those 3 things!!!

 

 

Good luck to the team for the rest of the TBA's!!!

 

Game 2 - RY Cardinals vs. North York Blues (Saturday, August 16, 2014)

 

When we woke up Aaron this morning, he was still upset and didn't want to go to the game this morning.  We tried talking to him but he insisted that he wasn't going.  I guess it was a good thing too because he didn't get much rest last night.

 

After making a couple phone calls, Andy convinced him to go to the second game.  They were on their way, already on the 401, when someone called to say that the team won the game against the Blues and didn't have to play anymore games today.  They automatically advanced to the Final game(s) tomorrow.