Around the Diamond: Rematch is set; Can Majors repeat?

If it seems familiar, that’s because it is. The London Majors and Toronto Maple Leafs are squaring off for the IBL title for the second year in a row. It’s a best-of-seven series this time around. Can London go back-to-back?

Owen Boon will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the 2022 IBL Finals, which kicks off Tuesday at Labatt Park. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Breaking a 46-year championship drought? That’s old news. The London Majors did that last season, winning a pennant and claiming the IBL’s first title since the COVID era. Winning back-to-back titles? That’s what the Majors are now focused on – and they’re a best-of-seven series win away from achieving the feat.

Standing in their way? The Toronto Maple Leafs, the very team they beat in a best-of-five final a year ago. Those memories are still fresh for Majors fans – Byron Reichstein’s game-changing home run, the team’s ace, Owen Boon, finishing his start strong, and the jubilant Cleveland Brownlee, the team’s long-time fan favourite, celebrating the only accomplishment left to achieve on his resume.

Now, they’re looking to lift the trophy again – this time at the end of a long and grueling season – featuring an expanded 42-game regular season schedule – and a pair of postseason series wins (over Brantford and Hamilton) that has earned them a chance at defending their title. Including their tie-breaking win over Guelph that earned them their second straight pennant, Tuesday night’s Game 1 of the IBL Finals will be the Majors’ 51st game of the summer.

The first 50 have led to this …

IBL Playoffs - 2022 Finals: London Majors vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (best-of-seven series)

Game 1: Tues. Sept. 13 (7:35pm at Labatt Park)
Game 2: Thurs. Sept. 15 (7:30pm @ Christie Pits)
Game 3: Fri. Sept. 16 (7:35pm at Labatt Park)
Game 4: Sun. Sept. 18 (7:30pm @ Christie Pits)
Game 5: Tues. Sept. 20 (7:35pm at Labatt Park) (if necessary)
Game 6: Thurs. Sept. 22 (7:30pm at Christie Pits) (if necessary)
Game 7: Fri. Sept. 23 (7:30pm at Labatt Park) (if necessary)

1) Well-rounded contenders. By most statistical measures, the regular season numbers pointed to the Majors being the team to beat this year. Offensively, they led the league with a .933 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), a .536 slugging percentage, and a whopping 73 home runs. On the pitching side, London’s staff was tops in the league in both ERA (3.51) and strikeouts (436). 

With a record of 31-11, they finished in a three-way tie with Guelph and Welland for first place in the standings (and then clinched the pennant with that tie-breaking win over Guelph), but they were the steadiest team throughout the year. A 1-2 pitching punch of Jose Arias and Owen Boon, and a middle of the order punch of Brownlee and Robert Mullen (who won the IBL batting title) produced all season long.

Over the last six weeks, the team has been fielding arguably the most potent 1-thru-6 of any lineup in the league, with Jakob Newton and Taylor Wright hitting 1-2, Brownlee and Mullen at 3-4, and Starling Joseph and Reichstein at 5-6. There are no weaknesses there for opposing pitchers, and they’ve been rolling.

Newton enters Tuesday leading the IBL with an eye-popping .600 batting average (21-for-35) and 14 runs scored in the postseason. Mullen is at .444 (12-for-27), while Wright is .382 (13-for-34) with a team-high 13 RBIs, Reichstein is .360 and Brownlee is .353. Joseph, at .281, has a team-best three homers as well as 11 RBIs. Oh, and the bottom in the order, Dan Perrier (.400), Austin Wilkie (.308) and Keith Kandel (.357) are also all hitting over .300 for the postseason thus far.

Jakob Newton, who was named an IBL All-Star this week, enters the Finals with the league’s best postseason average (.600). (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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2) Holding their own. If London’s offense is tops, the Maple Leafs aren’t far behind. This year’s IBL final, in fact, features two similar teams – both with good hitting and good pitching. On the offensive side, Toronto boasts a potent lineup in their own right, led perhaps by the hot-hitting Marcus Knecht, who’s batting .588 (20-for-34), second only to London’s Newton, in seven postseason games.

Jose Vinicio is also in the top 10 in hitting in the playoffs, boasting a .406 mark (13-for-32). He’s been leading off for the Maple Leafs, who swept Barrie in three games in the quarterfinals and then upset (at least, according to regular season standings) Welland in four games.

Like London, Toronto has a pretty consistent lineup every night (they’ve only used 10 hitters in seven playoff games). The Maple Leafs’ top six also includes Justin Marra, Jordan Castaldo, Knecht, Johnathan Solazzo and Connor Lewis. And that group did damage against the Jackfish, putting up 15, 14 and 9 runs, respectively, in their wins in that series.

For the playoffs, Castaldo enters action Tuesday with a .387 average (12-for-31), player-coach Damon Topolie sits at .370 (10-for-27), while Solazzo has hit .367, Lewis .345, and Greg Carrington .321. Knecht’s .588 mark has come with a league-leading five home runs and 15 RBI. In other words, Toronto can hit. Can they keep up London’s lineup? The answer will be key to determining who wins this series.

3) The arms race. Toronto is also no slouch on the pitching side. Perhaps this should come as no surprise, given they were a top four team in the league and have made it to the IBL Finals, but the Maple Leafs often don’t get credit for the quality of their arms because of their perennially strong offensive lineups (and the fact the team’s pitching numbers are often bloated from playing their home games at the very hitter-friendly Christie Pits). But they’ve got depth – and some talented former pros.

Dustin Richardson, of course, has been a thorn in the Majors’ side for awhile. He’s the one who came out of the bullpen (for multiple innings) and shut London down in Game 4 last year in Toronto to force a Game 5. On some nights, it seems his stuff is nearly unhittable – or at the very least, hitters need to really work counts and capitalize on the slightest mistakes (Richarson has actually started two games during these playoffs).

Angel Castro, an import arm and fellow former pro, is the primary starter on the Leafs, and he’ll take the mound for Game 1 Tuesday. Though the right-hander’s ERA doesn’t impress, he’s 2-0 in three playoff starts with an impressive 29 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. Toronto often relies on relievers throwing multiple innings, and that includes arms like Dylan Jacober, Chris Nagorski, and Marek Deska. The bullpen’s top arm is import closer Franklin Hernandez, who hasn’t been scored upon in six playoff innings while racking up 13 strikeouts.

4) Tale of the tape. How did these teams fare against each other during the regular season? For starters, they bookended the season against each other, with London winning Opening Day in Toronto, and again in their final meeting – which earned the Majors a spot in the tie-breaking game and, ultimately, this year’s IBL pennant (Toronto was also the first and last opponent they saw last year, which is quickly becoming a theme). 

Overall, the Majors have gone 5-1 against the Maple Leafs so far this season – although three of those games were decided by three runs or less. Behind Owen Boon, who will start Game 1 Tuesday, London won 6-3 in the 2022 season opener at Christie Pits back on May 15 (making his Majors debut, Jose Arias earned a four-inning save in that contest).

London won 4-2 at home June 3 (Arias win), and then lost 13-10 at home on July 8, with Pedro De Los Santos taking the loss. The Majors won 14-8 in Toronto on July 17, with Arias earning another win in that one, and then they beat Toronto 7-2 at home August 5 behind a Fernando Fernandez win. London then won a big 14-4 contest in Toronto Aug. 23, exactly three weeks ago, which tied them for first in the standings.

In that most recent contest, Boon worked six innings and allowed three runs en route to earning the win. He walked three and struck out 10. De Los Santos allowed just an unearned run in three relief innings. The Majors offense pounded out 20 hits in that one, punctuated by a huge 10-run third inning. Taylor Wright (3-for-6, 4 RBI), Robert Mullen (2-for-5, 3 RBI) and Dan Perrier (3-for-5, 2 RBI) all homered, while Starling Joseph, Byron Reichstein and Jakob Newton also had multi-hit games.