Dominican Summer League: Burgmann and Deneault-Gauthier combine to blank Yankees on two-hit shutout

May 23rd, 2016

By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada

GUERRA/BOCA CHICA, DR – Josh Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) and Mathieu Deneault-Gauthier (Candiac, QC) were tremendous as they combined to fashion a two-hit shutout as the Junior National Team handed the New York Yankees Dominican squad a 1-0 loss. 

Burgmann threw 61 pitches and recorded four strikeouts over six innings of work, while Deneault-Gauthier threw just 28 pitches and had three strikeouts in three innings on the mound. At one point, they combined to retire 18 Yankees in a row and faced 28 batters the entire game.

The juniors scored the only run of the game in the eighth inning as Clayton Keyes (Calgary, Alta.) lifted a fly ball to right field that allowed Adam Hall (London, Ont.) to tag and score from third base.

Earlier in the day, the juniors suffered a 17-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Dominican squad in a game that saw the Rays hit three home runs, while the juniors walked ten and commit three errors. Hall belted a three-run home run in the fourth inning.

The Dominican Summer League tour is now halfway complete with the Junior National Team’s record sitting at 4-3 with seven games remaining.

GAME ONE INFORMATION
Score: DSL Rays 17 Canada (U-18) 8
Location: Tampa Bay Rays Dominican Complex – Guerra, DR
Weather: 31 degrees Celsius, Cloudy

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:
1. Cooper Davis - CF
2. Noah Naylor - DH
3. Adam Hall - SS
4. Andrew Yerzy – C
5. Clayton Keyes - LF
6. Edouard Julien – 2B
7. Jason Willow – 3B
8. Tyler Duncan - RF
9. Victor Cerny - DH
10. Luke Van Rycheghem – 1B
11. Robbie Holmes - DH

Starting Pitcher: RHP Tim Walters

HOW IT HAPPENED
- A two out walk came back to haunt JNT starter Tim Walters (Gibsons, BC) in the bottom of the second as a two run home run followed on a ball that landed over the left field fence to give the Rays an early 2-0 lead.

- Walters ran into control issues in the third which led to four walks, while an errant throw and a pair of hits including a two run double and RBI single added up to six Rays runs when the dust had settled.

- The juniors answered back in the fourth with the majority of the damage coming on an Adam Hall three run homer that cleared the fence in left field. Robbie Holmes (New Sarepta, Alta.) and Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) started the frame with back-to-back singles before Noah Naylor (Mississauga, ON) reached on error that saw Holmes score from second base. Hall’s homer, the first for the Junior National Team on the DSL tour came on a 1-0 pitch and left the yard in a hurry.

- In the fifth, after a hit batter, base hit and two walks led to one runs, a grand slam over the wall in left off reliever Terrell Rogers (Aldergrove, BC) put the Rays up by nine.

- The juniors answered back in the top half of the fifth as Cooper Davis led off with a walk, moved to third on a Dondrae Bremner (Toronto, Ont.) single that got through the right side and scored on a wild pitch. After walks to Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) and Edouard Julien (Québec City, Que.), Jason Willow (Victoria, BC) came up with a two out, broken bat single to centre that scored two.

- With Michael Stovman (Maple Ridge, BC) on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, the Rays used back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners before a wild pitch brought a run in from third base. The juniors benefitted from a pair of nice defensive plays up the middle from Hall and Julien to get out of the inning giving up one run.

- With two down in the eighth, Adam Hall doubled to left for his second hit of the game and scored when Yerzy singled to right to make the score 14-8.

- The Rays hit their third home run of the game in the eighth, a two run shot, and prior to that had an RBI double to round out the scoring.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- A day after ripping a double and triple, Hall belted a three run homer in the fourth, drilled a double to left in the eighth and made a couple fine defensive plays at shortstop for good measure.
- Lead off hitter Davis reached base on three of his four plate appearances as he dropped down a bunt for a base hit in the first before slicing a single to left in the fourth and drawing a walk in the sixth.
- Yerzy also reached base three times as he walked twice before hitting an RBI single in the eighth as did Tyler Duncan (Sooke, BC) who drew a pair of walks and singled in the seventh.

TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 2, Davis (2/3), Hall (2/4); 1, Bremner (1/2), Yerzy (1/2), Keyes (1/3), Willow (1/4), Duncan (1/2), Holmes (1/3)
Runs: 2, Davis, Hall; 1, Naylor, Bremner, Yerzy, Holmes
Doubles: 1, Hall
Home Runs: 1, Hall
RBIs: 3, Hall; 2, Willow; 1, Yerzy
Strikeouts: 2, Stovman; 1, Walters

GAME TWO INFORMATION
Score: Canada (18U) 1 DSL Yankees 0
Location: New York Yankees Dominican Complex – Boca Chica, DR
Weather: 30 degrees Celsius, A few clouds

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:
1. Cooper Davis - CF
2. Edouard Julien- DH
3. Adam Hall - SS
4. Andrew Yerzy – C
5. Clayton Keyes - LF
6. Dondrae Bremner – 3B
7. Steven Moretto – DH
8. Michael Stovman – DH
9. Jason Willow – 2B
10. Tyler Duncan - RF
11. Soren Graversen – 1B

Starting Pitcher: RHP Josh Burgmann

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The juniors broke the goose egg in the eighth and it was Hall who led off with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball before advancing to third when Yerzy grounded out to second. That set the stage for Keyes who lifted a fly ball to right field that allowed Hall to easily tag and score the game’s first run.

- The Yankees got their second runner and hit of the ballgame with two out in the eighth, but Yerzy quickly took care of the runner on a stolen base attempt as he fired a laser to shortstop Hall who applied the tag on the runner to end the inning.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- Burgmann was masterful in his six innings of work. He threw just 61 pitches and gave up just one hit, while striking out four Yankees’ batters. After giving up a two out single in the second inning he proceeded to retire 13 batters in a row.
- Reliever Deneault-Gauthier was equally impressive in taking over for Burgmann as he sat down the first five batters he on three strikeouts, a groundout and a pop out before allowing a single with two out in the eighth. In the ninth he got a fly out and a pair of groundouts to end the game.

- Jason Willow enjoyed a 2-for-3 game at the plate as he stroked singles in both the sixth and ninth innings.

TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 2, Willow (2/3); 1, Julien (1/3)
Runs: 1, Hall
RBIs: 1, Keyes
Strikeouts: 4, Burgmann; 3, Deneault-Gauthier

UP NEXT
The juniors are scheduled to play another Tuesday tomorrow starting with the New York Mets DSL club at 10:30am ET followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers DSL squad ... LHP Jack DeCooman (North Vancouver, BC) is slated to start on the mound against the Mets, while Sam Turcotte (Toronto, Ont.) gets the ball against the Dodgers … You can get live updates by following @Team_C_Updates on Twitter.