McAffer gets Braves to McHack and McMiss
RHP Will McAffer (Vancouver, BC) tossed three scoreless innings as the Canadian Junior National Team fell 5-2 to the Washington Nationals extended spring team at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Score: Washington Nationals Extended 5 Canada (18U) 2
Location: Champion Stadium at ESPN Wide World of Sports, Lake Buena Vista, FL
Canada 18U Starting Lineup:
1. Miles Gordon – CF
2. Kobe Hyland – SS
3. Demi Orimoloye – RF
4. Josh Naylor – DH
5. Andrew Yerzy – DH
6. Darren Shred – C
7. Jonathan Martin – 1B
8. JF Garon – LF
9. Isaac Deveaux – LF
10. Brad Aldred – 3B
11. Royce Ando – 2B
12. Ben Komonosky – DH
Starting Pitcher: RHP Tyler Whitbread.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– The Nats jumped on JNT starter Tyler Whitbread (Camlachie, Ont.) in the top of the first scoring three runs on five hits including a pair of doubles. In the second inning, Whitbread allowed a solo home run with two out before tossing a perfect third inning.
– In the fifth, with reliever RJ Freure (Burlington, Ont.) on the mound, the Nats added a run as a lead off double came around to score on a two-out single.
– The juniors countered the Nats run in the fifth with a run in the home half of the inning as Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont/) singled before moving to third onJonathan Martin’s (Montréal, Que.) single, and later scored on a wild pitch.
– In the sixth, Royce Ando (Mississauga, Ont.) led off with a single and later scored on a two-out base hit off the bat of Kobe Hyland (Spruce Grove, Alta.).
JNT HIGHLIGHTS
– Freure took over for Whitbread in the fourth and worked his way out of a jam getting a strikeout and ground to leave two runners on after he yielded a one out double and walk. He allowed a run in the fifth but tossed a perfect sixth to conclude his three-inning outing.
– Will McAffer (Vancouver, BC) turned in a fine performance on the mound throwing three scoreless frames where he scattered one hit and walk to go along with two strikeouts. After a leadoff double in the eighth, McAffer retired six Nationals batters in a row.
– Offensively, the juniors hung with their professional counterparts in the hit category recording nine to the Nats 11.
– Brad Aldred (Whitby, Ont.) and Ando each had 2-for-3 games at the plate with Ando accounting for the only JNT extra base hit of the game as he doubled in the eighth.
– The juniors had a chance to make things interesting in the ninth after Aldred led off with a single and Ando followed with a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out, but a fly out, strikeout and groundout ended the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
Hits: Ando (2/3), Aldred (2/3), Gordon (1/4), Hyland (1/4), Naylor (1/3), Yerzy (1/3), Martin (1/3)
2B: 1, Ando
Runs: 1, Yerzy, Ando
RBIs: 1, Hyland
SBs: 1, Gordon
Strikeouts: 2, McAffer; 1, Whitbread, Freure.
UP NEXT
The juniors will travel to Dunedin tomorrow for a 1pm ET contest against pros from the Toronto Blue Jays organization at the Bobby Mattick Complex … LHPIsaac Anesty (Guelph, Ont.) is scheduled to start on the mound with RHPMike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) and RHP Josh Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) slated to follow.