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Leafs use 15 hit attack to power past Royals

Submitted by Roger Lajoie on Sat, 06/19/2010 - 16:03.

The Toronto Maple Leafs really got the bats going Saturday afternoon in Guelph.

The Leafs pounded out 15 hits and scored six runs in the seventh inning to crush the host Royals 12-6 in Intercounty Baseball League play, putting the Leafs three games over .500 (11-8) and in third place.

It was one of the more impressive performances from the Leafs this season, who have struggled to get on any kind of a roll to be able to challenge Barrie and Brantford for first place in the IBL. But if Saturday’s game is any indication, they may finally be hitting their stride.

“That was one of our better games of the year, no question,” Leaf owner Jack Dominico said. “When we’re hitting the ball like that we’re hard to stop. Now we just need to be more consistent and get on a bit of a winning streak.”

The Leafs will try and do just that tomorrow afternoon when they host the Mississauga Twins at 2 p.m. at Dominico Field at Christie Pits.

Leafs scored all of their runs from the third through the seventh inning on Saturday, and they also took advantage of four Guelph errors to drop the Royals to 8-12 on the season.

Brian Ivan paced the Leaf attack with three hits and an RBI, while Jordan Castaldo had two hits, including a homer, and scored twice and drove in three runs. Kyle Degrace also homered and chipped in with two hits, two runs scored and two RBI while Damon Topolie, Raul Borjas and Brian Corcoran all had two hits and drove in a run.

Starter Marek Deska pitched seven gutsy innings, allowing five runs on nine hits, but struck out five and walked three and was good enough for the win. Ryan Mashinter finished up for the Leafs, allowing one run on two hits over two innings of work.

Guelph starter Mel Melehes had a rare off day and took the loss. He went six innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

Jeremy Ware had two hits, including a homer, and two RBI and scored twice for Guelph, while Bryan Condotta had two hits and an RBI. Kevin Hinton also homered drove in a pair of runs for Guelph and scored twice.