April 15th, 2016

JNT Extended Spring: Juniors, Braves draw even in extended opener

By Adam Morissette
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Junior National Team opened their extended spring training schedule today at ESPN Wide World of Sports and played to a 2-2 draw against a prospects squad from the Atlanta Braves organization. The juniors opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first before the Braves pulled even with a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings.

GAME INFORMATION
Event: Extended Spring Training
Score: Canada (U18) 2 Atlanta Braves 2
Location: ESPN Wide World of Sports – Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Canada U18 Starting Lineup:
1. Cooper Davis – CF
2. Adam Hall – SS
3. Dondrae Bremner - EH
4. Andrew Yerzy – C
5. Clayton Keyes - RF
6. Edouard Julien – EH
7. Isaac Deveaux - LF
8. Brad Aldred – 3B
9. Jason Willow – 2B
10. Noah Naylor – DH
11. Soren Graversen – 1B
Starting Pitcher: LHP Wesley Moore

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The juniors came out swinging as Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) led off with a single in the top of the first and moved to third when Adam Hall (London, Ont.) followed with a double. Both runners came in on RBI groundouts courtesy of Dondrae Bremner (Toronto, Ont.) and Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.).
- A one out double off JNT reliever Tim Walters (Roberts Creek, BC) put a runner in scoring position for the Braves in home half of the fourth who later scored on a two out single.
- The Braves tied the score in the fifth as they used a one out triple followed by a sacrifice fly to pull even.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- Davis and Hall led the offence with each player collected two hits and scored a run as the juniors had six hits to the Braves’ eight. Bremner and Jason Willow (Victoria, BC) had the other hits.
- The juniors received scoreless pitching performances from three different hurlers. Wesley Moore (Surrey, BC) started and was solid over three innings of work as he scattered four hits and a walk, while fanning two batters.
- Jaden Griffin (Lower Sackville, NS) and Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont.) tossed two scoreless frames each and both struck out two batters. Griffin gave up just one hit, while Leach retired six in a row after a Braves batter reached on error to lead off the eighth.

TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 2, Hall (2/2), Davis (2/4); Bremner (1/4), Willow (1/1)
Runs: 1, Hall, Davis
RBI: 1, Bremner, Yerzy
Doubles: 1, Hall
Stolen Bases: 1, Hall, Keyes, Duncan
Strikeouts: 2, Moore, Griffin, Leach; 1, Walters

UP NEXT
The juniors’ extended spring training schedule continues tomorrow at ESPN Wide World of Sports when they’ll face the Braves for the second time in as many days with a Noon ET first pitch … RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) is slated to start on the mound.