Juniors see old friend in Braves' Soroka
Atlanta Braves RHP Mike Soroka (blue) chats with members of the Junior National Team after pitching two scoreless inning. Photo: Alexis Brudnicki.
JNT: Fall Instructional League Weekend Roundup
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
ORLANDO – The Junior National Team program began their annual Fall Instructional League Camp at ESPN Wide World of Sports yesterday and it was a familiar face on the mound as alum Mike Soroka (2014, 2015), a first round pick of the Atlanta Braves last June, tossed two scoreless innings against his former club as the Braves beat the juniors 7-4.
The juniors opened the scoring in the bottom of the second as Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) came up with an RBI double off top prospect Touki Toussaint to score Isaac Deveaux (Montréal, Que.) who had singled. Naylor came around to score on a single off the bat of Jason Willow (Victoria, BC).
After opening the game with three scoreless innings, JNT starter Sam Turcotte (Toronto, Ont.) was touched up for five runs in the fourth on three singles and a two run home run.
Reliever Jaden Griffin (Lower Sackville, NS) entered the game in the fifth and held the Braves off the scoreboard before allowing a run in each of the sixth and seventh. Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) tossed scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
The juniors added a pair of runs in the eighth after Luke Van Rycheghem’s (Kent Bridge, Ont.) single was followed by three walks, an error and a wild pitch.
Sunday’s game at Stetson University in Deland, Fla. was cancelled after only one inning due to rain and lightning in the area.
Both teams exchanged runs in the first inning that saw Clayton Keyes (Calgary, Alta.) single, move to third on a double off the bat of Adam Hall (London, Ont.) and score when Isaac Deveaux (Montreal, Que.) reached on a fielder’s choice.
UP NEXT: The juniors will play the Houston Astros prospects tomorrow at ESPN Wide World of Sports (1pm ET) … RHP Mathieu Deneault-Gauthier (Candiac, Que.) is expected to start on the mound.