The Rangers returned to the London Lakeside Tournament in 2018 after a three year hiatus. It was the first tournament for the team this season. Their regular season record of 18-2 put the Rangers atop the COBA standings, as well as rank them 2nd in Ontario by an impartial Senior Baseball Updates twitter account. The Rangers finished with a strong, but disappointing 3-1 record leaving London Sunday afternoon.

 

Game 1: Friday vs. East York Bulldogs (GTBL - 2nd Place; Ranked 4th in Ontario by Senior Baseball Updates @OakridgeReds)

This matchup was the first since the Rangers beat the Bulldogs 1-0 to advance to the final in the Hap Walters tournament in 2018. The final score in this one was 10-0 in 5 innings.

 

The first inning was scoreless as Adam McBride took the "home" start, pitching a 1-2-3 top half, and East York threw Mark Sikorski who had a scoreless half inning of his own. McBride followed with another scoreless inning in the second which was all the Rangers needed. Ranger lineup broke out for 5 runs in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, and then were able to push 3 more runs across in the 7th for the walk-off mercy just ahead of the time curfew. 

 

Rangers were led by 3B Ryan Panas 3-3 with a double and RBI, CF Alex Thrower 2-4 with 2RBI and 2B Mark Capone 2-3 with a double, a walk and RBI. DH AJ Iafrate (2), 1B Brad Crone, and C Kyle Bowers also had RBIs. Adam McBride went 5 complete scattering 8 hits, one walk, and striking out 4 in a complete game shutout.

 

Game 2: Saturday vs. Sarnia Braves (SWBL - 2nd Place; Ranked 7th in Ontario by @OakridgeReds)

This matchup was the first time the Rangers met the Sarnia Braves in the modern era. The final score was 2-0 Etobicoke.

 

Ranger pitcher Brent Cleland led the charge in this game throwing up 6 scoreless innings of 4 hit, 2 walk ball whille striking out 5 for the win. Tyler Whealy recorded an out in the 7th before passing the ball off to Kyle Breitner for the two strikeout save. 

 

Ranger bats mustered just enough off of Sarnia pitching to cash a run in the second and an insurance run in the 6th. SS Mike Ferracuti scored both runs on his two hits, on double, thanks to RBIs from LF Daniel Murphy and RF Brandon Costa. The Rangers were outhit 6-4 in this one, but did not strike out. 

 

Game 3: Saturday vs. Oakville A's (COBA - 8th Place; NR in Ontario Top 10)

Etobicoke and Oakville get to meet in London, just 10 days after last seeing each other back home. The final score in the tournament edition was 4-3 in extra innings.

 

Oakville threw an impressive Mitchell Over in this one, holding the Rangers at bay through the first three innings. Etobicoke countered with Brendan Lyons who did the same, holding the A's scoreless through 5 before giving up a single run in the 6th and 2 to tie the game in the 7th. Lyons surrendered just 4 hits and struck out a season-high 8 in the no-decision. 

 

The Rangers scored 3 runs in the 4th inning on wild pitches/passed balls, but couldn't muster anything more until the 9th. Andrew Perryman came in for the 8th and 9th inning and preserved the tie score for the Rangers, he provided an opportunity for the top of the order to get it done in the bottom half. 2B Mark Capone was hit by a pitch to lead of the inning, and 3B Ryan Panas followed with a big double to score Capone all the way from 1st base to end the game in a walk-off.

 

With the win, the Rangers secured a 1st place seed at 3-0 and the lowest runs against per defensive innings played. This earned a bye on Sunday morning into the Semi in the afternoon. However, the extra innings against Oakville proved costly as two late-inning injuries ended the weekend for those players.

 

Game 4: Sunday vs. Ilderton Red Army (SWBL - 3rd Place; Ranked 6th in Ontario by @OakridgeReds)

This is the first time the teams have met since the 2017 Senior Eliminations tournament in London when the Rangers won 13-3 in the undefeated game on Sunday. Final score, Ilderton win 10-3.

 

This time around, the Red Army had other plans for the Rangers, who have seemingly become a target for Ilderton. The Army, rolling from a big quarterfinal win over the defending provincial champion Tecumseh Thunder, had something to prove to Etobicoke. They won the coin toss and started Davis against the Rangers Kyle Breitner. Rangers scored first in top of 1 as 3B Ryan Panas scored from second on a 2 out base hit by SS Mike Ferracuti. Rangers added another in the third as Panas scorched a double to score DH Rob Borden. 

 

Meanwhile, Kyle Breitner was cruising until the 4th inning where with two outs, a base hit and a terrible hop on a ground ball to third base for another base hit, brought up Mitch Lumley who hit a two run double to tie the game. Breitner pitched out of that inning, but didn't record an out in the 5th, handing off the ball to brother Kevin Breitner. Kyle was charged with surrendering 8 hits and 3 walks for 4 earned runs, while striking out three through 4+ innings. Kevin Breitner surrendered Kyle's runners and 3 more came around to score on a walk and two hits, breaking the game open to 9-2 before passing the ball off to Andrew Hyde. Hyde also allowed inherited runners to score and gave up one run of his own on a pair of hits. The Rangers did add one run in the 6th but it did not matter. 

 

The Rangers were outhit 12-10, but were led by Panas 2-4 with a double and RBI, SS Mike Ferracuti 2-4 with RBI, and Borden 2-2 and a walk. 

 

 

With the semi-final appearance and loss, the Rangers move to 21-3 on the season, and are leap frogged by Ilderton who takes over the 2nd seed in the Ontario rankings, dropping Etobicoke to 3rd.

 

Next game is Friday night, back home for league action against the Brampton Royals.