The Blue Jays and the Padres battled into extra innings before the Jays squeaked by with a 5-4 victory Friday afternoon in St. Thomas Pee Wee League action at the Emile Griffith Ballpark.
The Blue Jays took the early lead by scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Shaquille Petersen hit a two-run home run into the right-center field gap to put his team ahead. Anthony Pippen and Wayne Bastian continued the hitting barrage with back-to-back singles. Pippen scored the third run of the inning when Alexander Joseph singled. The Blue Jays added another run in the top of the second inning.
The Padres kept the Blue Jays within scoring sight, singling in runs in each of the first three innings to close the margin to one, 4-3. They tied the score at four in the fifth inning thanks to a triple of the bat of Leo Sibilly III that drove home Jarred Mason, who got on with a single. Sibilly was out at home on the next play, a line drive that the Blue Jays second baseman caught. The second baseman then threw the ball home and Sibilly was tagged out.
The Blue Jays were held scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings. However, as the game when into extra innings they mounted an attack. Petersen singled to lead off the inning. He was later forced out at third base for the second out of the inning. With the bases loaded Tyler Rice singled Bastian home to give the Blue Jays a slim one run lead, 5-4.
Rice then used his glove to do the rest. He first caught a pop-up in the infield to retire the Padres lead off hitter, Olanyan Garnett. Rice then gloved a ground ball off the bat of Kyle Richardson to record the second out of the inning. Teammate Nick Schmidt then went to his knees to catch a line drive to end the game.
