March 16th, 2016

JNT Spring: Juniors fall to Braves, Soroka

By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – One season removed from being a member of the Junior National Team, RHP Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) faced his former mates and tossed two scoreless innings registering a pair of strikeouts as his Braves went on to a 7-0 win over Team Canada at the Walter Fuller Baseball Complex. Last June, the Braves made Soroka the 28th overall selection in the Major League draft. Soroka faced the minimum amount of batters as Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) reached on error to lead off the bottom of the first only to see Soroka pick him off at first base.

GAME INFORMATION
Event: Spring Training
Score: Atlanta Braves 7 Canada (U18) 0
Location: Walter Fuller Complex – St. Petersburg, Florida

Canada U18 Starting Lineup:

1. Cooper Davis – DH
2. Adam Hall – SS
3. Tyler Duncan - CF
4. Clayton Keyes – RF
5. Dondrae Bremner – 3B
6. Edouard Julien – 2B
7. Isaac Deveaux – LF
8. Brad Aldred – 1B
9. Luke Van Rycheghem – C
10. Noah Naylor - DH

Starting Pitcher: RHP Carter Loewen

HOW IT HAPPENED
- A two out walk issued by JNT starter Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) followed by a pair of singles gave the Braves a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

- After a scoreless second, the Braves went to work in the third as they used a one out triple followed by an RBI single to go up by a pair.

- A solo home run off reliever Conor Angel (Lachine, QC) in the fourth put the Braves up by three before a pair of runs scored in the fifth when the Braves strung together three consecutive hits in the form of a single, RBI double and RBI single.

- In the sixth, after a one out walk, a run homer coming with two out put the Braves up by seven.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- Offensively, the juniors were limited to just four hits with Brad Aldred (Whitby, Ont.) collecting a double in the sixth, while Adam Hall (London, Ont.), Edouard Julien (Québec, Que.) and Robbie Holmes (New Sarepta, Alta.) each singled. Aldred moved to third on an error but an ensuing double play nullified the threat.

- JNT reliever Ben Abram (Georgetown, Ont.) was solid in relief over three innings of work as he tossed three scoreless frames without giving up a hit or a walk to go along with three strikeouts.

TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 1, Hall (1/3), Julien (1/3), Aldred (1/3), Holmes (1/1)
Doubles: 1, Aldred
Strikeouts: 4, Angel; 3, Abram; 2, Loewen

UP NEXT
The highlight of the Junior National Team Spring Training camp will take place Thursday when the group travels to Dunedin for a game against a split squad version of the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium with the first pitch scheduled for 1:07pm ET … This will be the fifth time in six years that two clubs have met pitting Canada’s only Major League Baseball franchise against “Canada’s Future” in the Junior National Team … RHP Josh Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) is scheduled to start on the mound against the Jays and be followed by Mathieu Deneault-Gauthier (Candiac, Que.) and Sam Turcotte (Toronto, Ont.) … National Team alumni Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ont.) who recently represented Canada at Premier 12 last November is listed as the probable starting pitcher for the Blue Jays … The game can be heard live on Sportsnet 590 THE FAN in the listening region and via MLB.com.