By Baseball Canada

Play continued on Saturday at the Baseball Canada Cup in Saskatoon as Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan’s game from Friday night was concluded along with 7 new games throughout the day.

Competition is heating up with teams looking to rise in the standings as we approach the medal round. Ontario skyrocketed to 1st place in Pool A with 2 big wins while Québec fell after being handed their first two losses leaving them with a 3-2 record. BC sits tied with Québec in the standings after a couple big wins.

As for Pool B, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick both remain undefeated with 4 wins each. They’re round-robin match-up is set for 2:00pm CST on Sunday at Leakos field and will decided who finishes on top in their Pool.

A look at all of the action from day three:

Saskatchewan 12 Nova Scotia 2
Saskatchewan jumped to a 4 run lead early on Friday night before being postponed until the morning. Brett Esau (Meadow Lake, SK) drove in the team’s first run with a triple in the top of the 1st. Esau then scored on a passed ball along with Carter Dahl (Clavet, SK) shortly thereafter. Saskatchewan starter Danny Berg (Saskatoon, SK) tossed 3 shutout innings allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks during the outing. Berg struck out 3 while on the mound. Garrett Nicholson (Sydney Mines, NS) started for Nova Scotia allowing 4 runs on 1 hit and 4 walks. Nicholson struck out 5 over his 3 innings of work. Isaac Belliveau (Bedford, NS) led the team’s comeback effort by cutting Saskatchewan’s lead to 2 in the top of the 4th with a 2-RBI double. Saskatchewan then scored 5 insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to put an end to Nova Scotia’s comeback. Carter Dahl drove in a couple of runs in the inning to end the day with 3 RBIs.

British Columbia 11 Québec 3
British Columbia gave themselves a 6 run lead after the 1st thanks to an explosive offensive performance highlighted by Tyler Duncan’s (Sooke, BC) bases clearing triple. British Columbia starter Tyler Hoefer (Delta, BC) allowed 3 hits in 3 innings while striking out 5 to limit Québec to 1 run scored. Québec’s starter Mathieu Massicotte (Québec, QC) was charged with the loss after allowing 10 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks in 2.1 innings of work. Québec’s offence tried to cut into the lead with RBIs from Alexandre Roux (St-Lin, QC), Édouard Julien (Québec, QC) and Simon Tremblay (Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval, QC) but it was too little too late. 7 batters in the lineup picked up an RBI for BC in their collective offensive effort. Yi-An Pan (Langley, BC) entered the game in the 7th to secure the victory striking out 1 in the shutout inning.

Ontario 5 Alberta 0
Starting pitcher Brock Ryan (Cambridge, ON) was a force to be reckoned with on the mound for Ontario. Ryan went the distance tossing 7 shutout innings while limiting Alberta to 2 hits. He added 7 strikeouts to his tally while walking 3. Quinton Kopjar (Okotoks, AB) started the game for Alberta and was charged with the loss after allowing 5 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Luke Roberts (Edmonton, AB) came in as a reliever and shutout Ontario in 1.1 innings while allowing 3 hits. Luke Turino (Toronto, ON) led Ontario’s offence with a 2-RBI double in the 6th. Christopher Yoannou (Toronto, ON) contributed as well with a RBI triple in the 2nd. Aiden Huggins (Edmonton, AB) got Alberta’s first hit of the game ending Ryan’s no-hitter in the bottom of the 6th.

New Brunswick 6 Manitoba 5
Zachary Newman (Miramichi, NB) went the distance for New Brunswick outlasting Manitoba’s starter Aaron Pugh (Boissevain, MB) to get his team the win in the tight match-up. Newman allowed 5 runs, only 2 earned on 10 hits. He struck out 4 during his 7 innings on the mound. Pugh allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings of work. Manitoba reliever Carson Campbell (Winnipeg, MB) was charged with the loss allowing 2 runs on 3 hits in only a third of an inning. Jeremie Arseneau (Dieppe, NB) led New Brunswick’s offence with an RBI on 2 hits. The team’s RBIs came off the bat of 5 different players. Manitoba’s 2 RBIs were produced by Malik Gibbons (Winnipeg, MB) on his double in the first that had given his team the lead at the time. New Brunswick took over in the top of the 6th when Jason Doucet (Dieppe, NB) and Bryson Woodworth (Moncton, NB) drove in a run each and held on by shutting down Manitoba’s offence over the last 2 innings.

Nova Scotia 9 Newfoundland and Labrador 5
Newfoundland and Labrador scored their first 5 runs of the tournament in what was an impressive collective effort, but failed to match Manitoba’s offensive production. Starting pitcher Ryan Morgan (St. John’s, NL) struck out 8 in 5 innings on the mound for Newfoundland allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. Nova Scotia’s Steven Conway (New Glasgow, NS) earned the win allowing 0 earned runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings of work. 3 unearned runs were scored during his 6 strikeout performance. Colton Meagher (Hammonds Plains, NS) and Nathan Livingston (Glace Bay, NS) were a big part of Nova Scotia’s success. Meagher went 2 for 3 with a double while Livingston was credited with 2 of his team’s 4 RBIs. Newfoundland cut their opponent’s lead to 1 when they scored 2 in the top of the 5th, but failed to complete the comeback as Nova Scotia went on to add 5 insurance runs.

Ontario 7 Québec 4
After dropping the opening game of the tournament against Québec, Ontario redeemed themselves in a big win. Winning pitched Ethan Hunt (Elginburg, ON) went 2 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Relievers Mark Pineault (Windsor, ON) and Matthew Brash (Kingston, ON) were huge for Ontario in the win combining for 6 strikeouts and no earned runs in 5 innings. Québec’s Francis Krakana (Gatineau, QC) was charged with the loss after allowing 4 runs on 2 hits and 4 walks in only 0.2 innings. Ontario’s offence got going early with a big 4-run 1st inning highlighted by Shane Paradis’ (Lasalle, ON) 2-RBI single. Paradis added another RBI to his tally on a single in the 6th. Québec’s Alexandre Roux (St-Lin, QC) extended his hit-streak to 5 games going 3 for 4 at the plate with 3 singles, but failed to cash in any runs. Québec was shut down in the top of the 7th with runners on the corners to end their attempt at a comeback.

British Columbia 4 Alberta 3
British Columbia topped Alberta in a huge walk-off win in the bottom of the 7th. BC’s Alex Davis (Delta, BC) and Alberta’s Maddux Greves (Calgary, AB) battled it out in a 7 innings pitcher’s duel as both starters went the distance for their clubs. Greves came out on the wrong end of the duel allowing 4 runs, 3 of which unearned on 6 hits and 4 walks. Davis earned the win after allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. Chris Messer (Calgary, AB) gave Alberta their first lead on a RBI triple in the top of the 1st. BC then tied things up in the bottom of the 4th when Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) doubled then scored on Braeden Massignani’s (Surrey, BC) single. Alberta jumped out to another lead scoring 2 in the top of the 5th only for it to disappear again in the bottom of the inning. BC then got their first lead of the game in the bottom of the 7th when it mattered most. Kobe Morris (Victoria, BC) came in to score from 2nd base on an infield error to win the game.

Saskatchewan 7 Prince Edward Island 0
Tyson Black dominated on the mound for Saskatchewan to give his team their 4th win of the round-robin. Black tossed a complete game shutting out PEI and allowing only 4 hits. PEI’s starter Porter Smith was charged with the loss allowing 6 runs, 3 of which unearned on 6 hits and 3 walks. Smith struck out 4 in the outing. Jordan Malainey got his 2nd triple of the tournament extending his hit-streak to 4 games. Malainey drove in a run on the play and now leads the tournament with an impressive .600 batting average. Dylan Flasch contributed to Saskatchewan’s offence as well going 2 for 4 with a double and scoring twice. PEI put together 4 hits in the loss.

Up Next: The 5 remaining round-robin games are set to be played out on Sunday at Cairns and Leakos fields along with a quarter-final match-up between the 3rd place team in Pool A and the 2nd place team in Pool B.