RJ Mayor hit a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to score Alejandro Cazorla Granados as Team Orange escaped with a 4-4 tie against Team Maroon on Day 2 action of the Blue Jays’ Tournament 12 on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
Cazorla Granados, of Okotoks, Alta., slid into home to narrowly elude Maroon catcher Jean-luc Bussieres of Edmonton to score the tying run.
As a showcase tournament, T12 only plays to seven innings and games end no matter the score.
Team Maroon (0-1-1) had gotten off to a hot start, going up 4-0 in the top of the first. It rattled off four singles, along with a ground-rule double from Whitby, Ont.’s Darius Armorer, and an RBI-double from Toronto’s J.J. Dutton. Armorer was awarded Player of the Game honours.
David Calabrese, of Maple, Ont., had a strong outing for the second consecutive day for Maroon, going 2-for-4, including a triple, and one RBI. Calabrese was named Player of the Game in Team Maroon’s 8-3 loss on Wednesday to Team Green.
Brody Alexandre, of Swift Current, Sask., led Team Orange (1-0-1) with one hit and two RBIs, while Bryce Arnold, of Grimsby, Ont., had one hit and one RBI.
Simon Lusignan of Varennes, Que., allowed three hits and two runs in three innings as Team Maroon’s starter, while Campbell Ellis of Georgetown, Ont., allowed seven hits and four earned runs in three innings as the starter for Team Orange.
Arnold scored in the bottom of the first off a ground-out from Alexandre to make it 4-1, and then Alexandre rattled off his second RBI of the game in the third to bring in Toronto’s Caden Shapiro, cutting Orange’s deficit to two. Justin Carinci scored in the fourth off an Arnold single to make it 4-3.
Orange will be back in action at 7 p.m. Thursday taking on Green, while Maroon will be in the opening game on Friday against Team Navy.