A rivalry is born 

The Riverdale versus Leslieville matchup has usually been a one-sided affair. But this year the Spartans have said “we belong”. It was only last month that Riverdale smoked Leslieville 8-4 and so the rematch on Saturday was very unpredictable. 

Andrew Fuller and Scott Baker got the starts on the mound. Baker was greeted with a four run first inning highlighted by an Andrew Fuller three run bomb. It was 4–0 and the familiar blowout score was on the horizon. 

Fuller was lit up by the Spartans team last time around and they decided to keep that trend going as they struck for four runs in the second inning. Marty Patience highlighted that inning with a two run bomb to centerfield. Fuller was valiant in grinding out two innings of play and the Brickies were down 5–4 after three. 

Move to the 5th inning where Andrew Fuller strikes again with his second three run bomb of the day. A high towering shot over the short porch made it 7-5 and the Brickies were back on top. 

Jeff Snow was pretty dominant on the hill. He only gave up a solo home run shot to Marty Patience in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 7–6.  Marty Has been on a tear lately and he knocked his sixth and seventh home runs of the season in this game. 

We go to the top of the seventh inning and it’s a tight affair. Adrian Golombek who had an impressive day at the plate with a couple doubles, a triple and his first Homerun of the year to create a little insurance at 8–6. Oswald Alvarez, who leads the Brickies in home runs also smoked a bomb to make the score 9–6. 

That’s how the score ended and both teams felt good about the outcome of this contest. Spartans Paul Braunstein was content.   “We battled hard against a very solid Brickies team. But they got some big hits when the game was close.  That was the difference today.  But we feel really good about our team this year and hope to make a deep run come playoff time.” 

Next up for the Brickies are the Cliffside Heights and the Spartans will take on the Beach Dusters.