ALL-STARS BEST BLUES 7-1 AT OUA BASEBALL SHOWCASE

 
TORONTO – The OUA All-Stars defeated the reigning champion Toronto Varsity Blues 7-1 in the OUA Baseball Showcase at the Rogers Centre on May 5th.

Western’s Shawn Robinson (Sarnia, Ont.) was the lead hitter for the OUA All-Stars, testing Blues starting pitcher Ryan Donnelly (Toronto) before walking to first where he was picked off.

Nathan Smith (Brampton, Ont.) of the Brock Badgers opened the scoring in the top of the first by scoring on a sac fly hit by 2012 OUA Player of the Year Justin Interisano (Guelph, Ont.) of the Guelph Gryphons.

Toronto evened the score at 1 apiece in the bottom of the fourth when first baseman Brent Page (Hamilton, Ont.) scored Jonathan Isaac (Toronto) on a hard line drive between the sprawling first and second basemen.

The OUA All-Stars scoring broke out in the fifth inning. Robinson advanced to third on a hit and run by Smith. With the infield in looking to stop the All-Stars from scoring, Brock’s Evan Baglieri (Chippawa, Ont.) cashed in Smith and Robinson on a hard single which made it passed Toronto’s first baseman. Baglieri advanced to second on a Toronto overthrow to home plate before stealing third base.

Toronto pitcher Dylan Kelly (Newmarket, Ont.) walked the next two OUA All-Star batters, Interisano and Ryan Panas (Toronto) of the Laurier Golden Hawks, before leaving the game.

Toronto pitcher Peter Nash (Ajax, Ont.) came in to pitch to Waterloo’s Ben Tinklin (Kitchener, Ont.) who scored Baglieri on a sac fly to make the score 4-1. Nash proceeded to walk McMaster outfielder Paul Saville (Dundas, Ont.) to reload the bases. Designated hitter Nolan Anderson (London, Ont.) hit a one hopper over Nash’s head, scoring Interisano and Panas, making the score 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

To lead off the seventh inning, Toronto pitcher Yusuke Oshima (Richmond Hill, Ont.) struck Brock’s Cam Graham (Sarnia, Ont.) to put the batter on first before a single by Queen’s Andrew Hastings (Mississauga, Ont.) advanced Graham to second. A passed ball moved All-Star runners to second and third putting them in scoring position before Guelph’s Sean Molony (Pickering, Ont.) hit a sac fly to send Graham home.

A fly ball to left field ended the top of the seventh inning, and the All-Stars held a sturdy 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Blues tried to mount an attack and managed to load the bases.

Fortunately for the All-Stars, Waterloo’s Jay Flannigan (Cornwall, Ont.) struck out the second and third outs to limit the Blues to a single run in the game.