Morris, Hoefer lead BC to Canada Cup win

By Baseball Canada
British Columbia captured their 3rd first place finish in 3 years at the Baseball Canada Cup on Monday by defeating the host team Saskatchewan by a score of 10-1.BC’s gold medal made it the second time in Canada Cup history that a province win three consecutive championship.

Tyler Hoefer’s (Delta, BC) stellar performance on the mound led BC to victory holding Saskatchewan hitless up until the bottom of the 6th. Hoefer tossed a complete game allowing only 1 unearned run on 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7.

BC got off to a fast start scoring 4 runs in the top of the 4th. Yi-Fan Pan drove 2 of his teammates home in the inning on a double. They added insurance runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to increase their lead to 9. They held on to the lead throughout the entire game in the decisive win.

Kobe Morris was a big part of the attack going 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs and coming in to score 3 times throughout the game. Morris added a double and a triple to his already impressive stats and was only a homerun short of hitting for the cycle.

Danny Berg was charged with the loss for Saskatchewan allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk in 1.2 innings of work. The team’s 4 relievers combined for 4 runs allowed, only 1 earned on 7 hits and 3 walks. Saskatchewan’s 2 hits in the game came off the bats of Danny Berg and Carter Dahl.

The silver medal made it the first second place finish for Saskatchewan since 2011 and their 6th medal in Canada Cup history.

Jordan Malainey of Saskatchewan was named the Top Hitter of the tournament. Malainey’s 3 triples and .421 batting average in the tournament made him a threat every time he stepped up to the plate.

The two other player awards both went to members of team BC. The top catcher award went to Jesse Unger while the top defensive award went to shortstop Kobe Morris.

The gold medal game took place at Cairns field hours after Ontario defeated Québec 10-9 in the battle for third place.

A look at some of the action from day five:

Saskatchewan 4 Ontario 3
Host Saskatchewan topped Ontario in the first semi-final match-up of the day with a huge come from behind victory. Ontario took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the 2nd with an RBI single from Ari Sechopoulos (Windsor, ON). Zachary Fascia (Brampton, ON) scored shortly after on a balk. They increased their lead to 3 an inning later when Luke Turino came in to score. Saskatchewan’s starting pitcher Carson Perkins (Bienfait, SK) shut them down after that. Perkins pitched a complete game allowing 3 runs on 2 walks and 4 hits while striking out 2. Saskatchewan’s comeback began in the top of the 4th when Danny Berg (Saskatoon, SK) came in to score. They then erased the deficit in the top of the 5th thanks to an RBI double from Brody Frerichs (Muenster, SK) who would later score on a single from Bryce Rueve (Muenster, SK). Ontario starting pitcher Niall Windeler (Toronto, ON) lasted 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. Mateos Kekatos (Toronto, ON) came in as a reliever put failed to shut down Saskatchewan’s offence. They completed the comeback in the 7th when Rueve drove in the go ahead run and Ontario was shut out in the bottom.

Nova Scotia 10 Newfoundland and Labrador 5
Newfoundland got the first lead of the game when Dylan MacKenzie (St. John’s, NL) scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 3rd, but Nova Scotia answered with their best offensive showing of the tournament. 9 runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the inning highlighted by Nathan Livingston’s (Glace Bay, NS) 2-RBI double. Jaden Griffen (Sackville, NS) earned the win for Nova Scotia tossing 2 hitless innings while striking out 3. Jaxson Gulliver (St. John’s, NL) was charged with the loss after allowing 6 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks in 2.1 innings of work. He struck out 1 during his time on the mound. Newfoundland put up a 4 run inning in the top of the 7th but it was too little too late as Nova Scotia couldn’t be caught.

British Columbia 6 Québec 2
British Columbia defeated Québec in the second semi-final of the day to guarantee themselves a medal. Québec put up a good fight but couldn’t match the defending champs’ offensive production. Québec’s starting pitcher William Sierra (Montréal, QC) was charged with the loss after allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 4 walk in 3.1 innings. BC’s Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) pitched another complete game allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 4 in the game. BC scored in the top of the 1st and maintained the lead pretty well throughout the entire game. Their offence was led by Trevor Fonseca’s (West Vancouver, BC) 2 RBI performance. BC will take on the host Saskatchewan in the Gold Medal game while Québec will play Ontario for Bronze.

New Brunswick 11 Alberta 5
New Brunswick defeated Alberta by a score of 11 to 5 in the second placement game of the day. New Brunswick’s starting pitcher Ryan Nason (Saint John, NB) lasted 3 inning allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk. He struck out 4 during his performance. Ben Tighe (Okotoks, AB) started on the mound for Alberta and allowed 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. New Brunswick took the lead early scoring a run in the first and extending their lead to 5 in the bottom of the 2nd. Alberta scored 5 runs of their own throughout the game but failed to match New Brunswick’s 11. Jeremie Arseneau (Dieppe, NB) led New Brunswick’s offence driving in 3 runs on 2 hits.