The Toronto Maple Leafs had just the kind of start to the Intercounty Baseball League post-season they were hoping for on Sunday afternoon.
Marek Deska pitched seven solid innings and Dan Gibbons had three hits, including a solo homer, to lead the Leafs to a 7-4 win over the Guelph Royals in the opening game of the opening round best-of-seven series at Dominico Field at Christie Pits.
Game 2 in the series is in Guelph on Tuesday with Game 3 back at Christie Pits Wednesday, also at 7:30 p.m.
Toronto (23-13) finished second in the IBL, seven games ahead of the seventh place Royals (16-20) in the regular season. But the Royals have a veteran laden team that are still considered a playoff threat, despite their sub-par regular season.
But the Leafs held the Royals in check in the opener, with Deska’s performance leading the way.
“You have to have good pitching in the playoffs and that’s what we got today,” Leaf owner Jack Dominico said. “Deska was great, we got some clutch hits and we get the first game as a result.
“This is a tough team, but we’ve beaten them five of six times now so we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing all season long.”
All season long Deska has been the leafs ace and he filled that role again on Sunday. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and three walks, keeping the Royals powerful lineup pretty much in check.
Mark Sikorski went 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, before Matt Walker got the last out in a nervous ninth after allowing a hit and walk before finally closing out the game.
Gibbons, the club’s best all-round hitter in the regular season, had an outstanding day at the plate. He wound up with three hits, two RBI and run scored, with his solo homer in the fifth a deep blast to centre field to put Toronto in front 4-1.
Raul Borjas and Rob Gillis both had two hits and scored a pair of runs for the Leafs, while Brian Ivan contributed two hits, an RBI and also scored a run to pace a balanced 12-hit Toronto attack.
Guelph starter Mike Goemans took the loss. He went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Sean Reilly, Nathan Grant and Chris Stewart all hit home runs for the Royals. Reilly had two of Guelph’s seven hits and Stewart’s homer was a two-run shot in the ninth off Sikorski that got the Royals back to within three runs after Toronto had taken a 7-2 lead.