BC rides Cade Smith's arm into T12 semifinals
By: Daniel McKenzie
Canadian Baseball Network
One big arm and some timely hitting was all BC Orange needed to secure themselves a spot in the semifinal of Tournament 12.
Orange starter Cade Smith dealt five shutout innings while striking out 10 overmatched batters and his team held off a late rally to beat the Prairies Purple 6-2 on Sunday at Rogers Centre.
Boxscore: BC Orange 6 Prairies Purple 2
“That’s probably the best performance I’ve seen him throw all year. Probably the right time to do it too,” Orange coach Corey Eckstein said, with a smile. “His fastball was good. (He) kept the ball down. His secondary stuff was good today and he kept guys off balance all game.”
The 6-foot-5 right-hander from Abbotsford, BC, struck out the side in the first - all swinging – and added two more strikeouts in the second inning. Then, his offence went to work for him.
Orange third-baseman Damiano Palmegiani led off the top of the second with a double down the left-field line. First-baseman Michael Stovman followed that up with a walk. The two base-runners then took off on a double-steal attempt. Purple catcher Shayne Campbell sailed a throw over the third baseman’s head into left field allowing Palmegiani to score the first run of the game.
Designated hitter Steven Morretto followed that by smacking an RBI single into left field. Then, with two outs, Orange right-fielder Dawson Gray hit a two-run single pushing his team out to a 4-0 lead. That was all they’d need with the way Smith was throwing.
Purple starter Logan Hofmann finished the second inning but was replaced by a series of relievers who pitched an inning each through the rest of the game.
Smith teased Purple with three straight walks in the top of the fourth inning before striking out right-fielder John Patmore and catcher Campbell to erase any doubt that this game was his.
He said his strategy was to take advantage of the tournament format and get ahead of hitters with his best pitch: his 88 mph fastball.
“Well, starting 1-1, the important thing is getting that first pitch strike and because then it’s 1-2 and that’s a hard situation to hit out of, so the first pitch strike is always my goal,” Smith said.
Does he feel bad about dominating Purple hitters? Not really.
“Ah, it’s a showcase tournament, so it’s every man for himself,” he said. “(It) feels good.”
Coach Eckstein said that’ll be it for Smith at T12 and he’ll rely on his other arms to carry them through the rest of the tournament. He also said he likes the way his team is playing and isn’t going to mess with a good thing.
“Not gonna change much. Keep it simple…yeah, no pressure here. I think we’re in a good situation here with the semifinal tomorrow,” Eckstein said. “We’ll get some guys into the next game (Sunday evening), make sure some guys get some at-bats who maybe haven’t had some throughout the tournament so far and keep pluggin’ away.”
Purple loaded the bases in the seventh and scored two runs but that’s all they could muster before succumbing to their fate. Designated hitter Tyler McWillie came within feet of hitting a grand slam when he launched a bomb down the left-field line but the ball tailed wide of the foul pole before bouncing into the bleachers.
BC Orange is now 3-0 in the tournament, securing themselves a spot in Monday’s semifinal. They play their final round-robin game Sunday at 7 p.m. against Ontario Green (1-1-1) while Prairies Purple will head home finishing the tournament with an 0-3-1 record.