Quebec, BC, Ontario, Saskatchewan final 4 at Canada Cup

By Baseball Canada
The six remaining round-robin match-ups were settled on Sunday at the Baseball Canada Cup in Saskatoon. A playoff game between the 3rd place team in Pool A and the 2nd place team in Pool B took place as well in order to determine who would have a shot at a medal heading into Monday’s semi-final games.

Saskatchewan went undefeated in Pool B to clinch first place and will face Ontario who finished on top in Pool A after winning 5 straight despite dropping their opener. The second semi-final will be made up of Québec and BC. Québec earned a bye to the semis by finishing second in Pool A while BC had to battle it out against New Brunswick in a playoff game to earn their spot.

A look at all of the action from day four:

Manitoba 11 Newfoundland and Labrador 6
Manitoba and Newfoundland battled it out in a high-scoring game that saw both teams combine for 19 hits. Manitoba reliever Adam Filmon (Winnipeg, MB) was credited with the win after allowing only 1 unearned run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Filmon struck out 3 over 4 innings. Conner Green (Portage la Prairie, MB) went 3 innings before him allowing 5 runs, only 1 earned on 4 hits and 5 walks. Newfoundland’s loss was charged to Parker Gulliver (St. John’s, NL) who gave up 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 4.1 innings of work. Newfoundland took 5-2 lead momentarily thanks to a 4 run inning in the 3rd. Manitoba took over in the top of the 5th with a 4 run inning of their own and then added to their lead with another 4 runs in the top of the 7th to secure the win. Manitoba’s offense was highlighted by Lane Taylor’s (Portage la Prairie, MB) bases clearing triple while Newfoundland’s Daniel Rice (St. John’s, NL) led the team’s offense with a triple and 2 walks scoring twice.

Prince Edward Island 10 Nova Scotia 0 (5 innings)
Matt Barlow (Summerside, PE) pitched another solid 5 innings for PEI. This time around he shut out the opposition tossing a complete game. Barlow struck out 3 and gave up 4 hits. Nova Scotia’s Bailey McDonald (Halifax, NS) was charged with the loss allowing 5 runs on 11 hits over 3.1 innings. PEI’s offensive success was a collective effort. Every single player in the lineup picked up a hit. Ryne MacIsaac (Charlottetown, PE) doubled in the outing going 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs. There was no catching PEI after their explosive 5-run inning in the 5th as Nova Scotia was shutout in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

Ontario 9 British Columbia 8 (10 innings)
Ontario edged out BC in a real nail-biter that had the clubs play 3 extra innings before a winner emerged. Travis Keys (London, ON) started for Ontario allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks over 5 innings. Yi-An Pan (Langley, BC) started for BC lasting 3.2 innings after allowing 3 runs, only 1 earned on 6 hits and a walk. Michael Stovman (Maple Ridge, BC) saw some action as well as a reliever going 3 innings and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk. BC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd and then extended to 6 runs with another 3 run inning in the top of the 4th. Ontario cut the lead in half with a 3 run inning of their own in the bottom and then erased it completely with another 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th. Pitchers Matthew Brash (Kingston, ON) and Corey Jackson (Abbotsford, BC) faced off in extra innings. Brash pitched 5 innings for Ontario allowing 2 unearned runs on 1 hit in 5 innings. 3 unearned runs came in for Ontario during Jackson’s 2.2 innings on the mound for BC. Ontario won it in the bottom of the 10th when Shane Paradis (Lasalle, ON) scored on a balk.

Saskatchewan 7 New Brunswick 6
Saskatchewan topped New Brunswick to secure 1st place in Pool B and a spot in the semi-finals on Monday. The loss forced New Brunswick to play another playoff game for their own spot in the medal round. Both teams exchanged leads back and forth multiple times in the tight game. Saskatchewan took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the 2nd on Dryden Kaczmar’s (Regina, SK) RBI double then extended it to 2 with another run in the bottom of the 3rd. New Brunswick then took the lead in the 4th with a 3 run inning only to have Saskatchewan take it back in the bottom of the 5th. New Brunswick’s 2 run inning in the top of the 6th gave them the lead once again thanks to an RBI single from Dom Tardif (Dieppe, NB) and a RBI double from Jeremie Arseneau. (Dieppe, NB) Saskatchewan took over for the last time with a 2 run inning of their own in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a RBI double from Danny Berg (Saskatoon, SK) and a RBI single from Jordan Malainey (Saskatoon, SK) who tripled in the game a well and leads the tournament with a .615 batting average. Carson Perkins (Bienfait, SK) then shut out New Brunswick in the top of the 7th to earn the win.

Québec 8 Alberta 6
Closing pitcher Pierre-Olivier Avoine (Gatineau, QC) earned the win for Québec allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk over 1.2 innings. Québec’s starter Conor Angel (Lachine, QC) lasted 4.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Reliever Alexis Cadieux (Gatineau, QC) saw some action as well shutting out Alberta over 0.2 innings. Alberta’s starter Bryce Fraser (Lethbridge, AB) lasted 3 innings allowings 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. It was reliever Luke Roberts (Edmonton, AB) who was charged with the loss after allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 1.1 innings of work. Cadieux and Marcel-Maxime Lacasse (Gatineau, QC) led Québec’s offense by producing 2 RBIs each. Lacasse’s 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 5th is what gave Québec the lead after trailing Alberta for most of the game.

Manitoba 12 Prince Edward Island 2 (5 innings)
Manitoba’s starting pitcher Ian Briscoe (Winnipeg, MB) held PEI to 2 runs in the game lasting 4 innings while allowing 5 hits and 2 walks. Briscoe struck out 6 while on the mound. PEI’s starter Kyle Pinksen (Kensington, PE) was charged with the loss after giving up 5 runs in the first inning on 5 hits and 3 walks. Reliever Brandon Condon (Kensington, PE) failed to stop the bleeding when he entered in the 2nd allowing 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 1.2 innings. Manitoba’s offense was lead by Tyler Enns (Cartwright, MB) who had a bases clearing triple in the bottom of the third to extend Manitoba’s lead to 12. PEI scored 2 in the top of the 4th but it wasn’t enough. Reliever Ryan Moroz (St. Andrews, MB) entered the game in the 5th and tossed a shutout inning allowing 1 hit with 1 strikeout to seal the deal for Manitoba.

British Columbia 3 New Brunswick 1
BC and New Brunswick faced off to decide who would earn a spot in the semi-finals on Monday against Québec. Jake Polancic (Langley, BC) earned the win for BC allowing only 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk over 6.1 innings. Polancic struck out 7 to give his club a shot at a medal. Dom Tardif (Dieppe, NB) started for New Brunswick and was charged with the loss after allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4. BC got an early lead in the top of the 1st when Trevor Fonseca (Trevor Fonseca) and Kobe Morris (Victoria, BC) both came in to score. New Brunswick cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 2nd when Jeremie Arseneau (Dieppe, NB) came in to score. BC extended their lead to 2 in the top of the 3rd when Morris singled, stole second and came around to score on Tyler Duncan’s RBI double. That was the last run scored in the game as both pitchers shut out the opposition for the remaining innings. Yi-An Pan (Langley, BC) entered in the 7th to earn the save getting the double play ball his team needed to end the game.

Up Next: 2 placement games will be played at Leakos Field while both semi-final games are set to be played out at Cairns Field at 10am and 1pm before the Bronze Medal Game at 4:30pm and the Gold Medal Game at 7:30pm. (All times are local)