By: Daniel McKenzie

Canadian Baseball Network

Usually, when a baseball team gives up eight runs in one inning, that’s pretty much all she wrote. But not Friday night at Tournament 12, and not Quebec Blue.

Leading 2-0 over Futures Navy heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, things looked good for the Blue. Then, the wheels came off.

Boxscore: Futures Navy 8 Quebec Blue 8

Left-hander Christopher Pouliot started the inning, replacing right-hander Conor Angel who pitched three scoreless to start the game.

Pouliot couldn’t get more than one out before being pulled. He gave up two hits and five earned runs while walking two and hitting a batter. Right-hander Olivier Morin Larocque took over but didn’t fair much better, giving up another three runs before the onslaught ended.

Blue coach Robert Fatal said the team was a bit rusty after not playing for three weeks and said he told Pouliot he’d get another shot right away to redeem himself.

“I said, ‘Don’t worry about that…first situation tomorrow, lefty-on-lefty, you’re gonna jump on it,’” Fatal said.

The score after four: 8-2 for the Navy.

Quebec wasn’t ready to pack it in just yet. There were too many important eyes watching. Too many scouts from places that could potentially change the future of these young ballplayers.

“That’s a long inning but I just told our guys to be aggressive on the count, doesn’t matter if we’re down by six, stay aggressive,” Fatal said. “It’s a tournament to showcase individual impact and we use the team spirit to rally.”

The Blue started chopping away at the lead. They scored two runs in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 8-4.

Then, the next inning the comeback became a reality thanks to a huge two-run triple down the right-field line off the bat of centre-fielder Marc-Antoine Lebreux to chop the lead in half once again.

Second-baseman Edouard Julien then launched a towering drive to left-centre that dropped just short of the warning track and bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. 8-7, Navy.

In an attempt to stop the bleeding, the Navy brought in their second reliever, Noah Paterson, who finally got the first out of the sixth inning. He then walked a batter though, putting runners on first and third. The Blue then used a pinch runner, Zackary Asselin, and pulled off the classic double steal. Navy catcher Owen Diodati threw out Asselin at second, but Julien took off for home as soon as the ball left the catcher’s hand. Tie game. 8-8.

Neither team really threatened in the seventh and despite giving up the huge lead, Navy players were all standing, arms hanging over the rail until the final out, hoping for one last push-back. It didn’t come, but it didn’t matter. An 8-8 final offered more positives than a 0-0 result earlier in the day.

Coach Mike Lumley said he liked what he saw in his players at the end of the game.

“Yeah, we’re trying to get them enthused into the game and be part of it,” he said. “No sense just sitting here like a bump on a log. Gave up the lead, who cares? Keep playing.”

Lumley said they’ll look at the positives, like getting their leadoff man on base the first four innings, and use the rest as a learning experience.

“It’s a progression. They swung the bats well tonight against a good Quebec team,” he said. “When they get a little bit older they understand more about neutralizing an inning. We gave up a two, then a four. We had a chance to keep it to a run and we let it get away from us a little bit. Hey, they’re young.”

Quebec Blue look to continue shaking off the rust first thing Saturday morning at 8 a.m. against Atlantic-Maroon while Futures Navy will put their progression to the test on Saturday at 6 p.m.against Ontario-Green.