May 28th, 2016

Dominican Summer League: Juniors win big in DSL finale

By Adam Morrissette
SAN PEDRO DE MACORÍS, DR – The Junior National Team capped off the Dominican Summer League tour with a 15-7 win over MLB Prospect League in a contest that spanned over four hours and featured 27 hits, 10 errors and 19 walks, 15 of which were issued by the Prospects.

The win gives the Junior National Team a record of 8-6 as the squad competed in 14 games over a ten-day period.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Canada (U-18) 15 MLB Prospect League 7
Location: Estadio Tetelo Vargas – San Pedro de Macorís, DR
Weather: 30 degrees Celsius, A few clouds

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

Starting Pitcher: RHP Josh Burgmann

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Two singles from Adam Hall (London, Ont.) and Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) put runners on the corners in the top of the first and Hall scurried home on a wild pitch to give the juniors an early 1-0 lead.

- In the second inning, the juniors sent ten batters to the plate and scored five runs to go up by six. Jason Willow (Victoria, BC) got things going with a lead off single to left and scored when Tyler Duncan (Sooke, BC) followed with a triple down the right field line. Edouard Julien (Québec City, Que.) then reached on an error that brought Duncan home before Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) picked up his second hit of the game, this time, a triple to left that forced the Prospects to make a pitching change. After a strikeout, walks to Adam Hall and Yerzy brought Clayton Keyes (Calgary, Alta.) to the plate who promptly ripped a single up the middle to score Hall.

- With two out in the third, Davis picked up his third hit in as many at bats with a single to right, stole second, and after a couple walks, scored when Andrew Yerzy drew a bases loaded walk. Keyes followed and was then hit by a pitch that scored Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and the juniors led 8-0.

- Back-to-back errors put runners on the corners for the Prospects in the bottom of the fourth before a single to left and a double to the gap in left scored two to put them on the scoreboard.

- In the fifth,  Naylor dropped a leadoff single into left and with one out, Yerzy single to right before Keyes walked to load the bases. A pop up to shallow left field followed that was dropped by the shortstop that allowed Naylor to score although Yerzy was forced out at third base.

- Jack DeCooman (North Vancouver, BC) entered the game in relief in the bottom of the fifth and issued a lead off walk before a double to the gap in right brought in the third run of the game for the Prospects.

- Three walks, an error and a wild pitch brought in a run before Dondrae Bremner (Toronto, Ont.) whacked a double to right that brought in two more. A throwing error brought in both Keyes and Bremner as the juniors scored five in the inning to go up 14-3.

- Some sloppy defence cost the juniors in the eighth as the prospects scored two runs as a result of a walk, error and a base hit that saw two runs score as the juniors failed to execute on a rundown to make the score 14-5.

- The Prospects added two runs in the ninth as they used back-to-back singles and an error to put runners on second and third before an RBI single scored two to round out the scoring.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- JNT starter Josh Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) tossed two scoreless frames before three base hits loaded the bases for the Prospects with one out in the home half of the third. Third baseman Bremner fielded a chopper and tagged the runner heading from second to third for the second out before firing to first to complete the double play that ended the inning. Burgmann worked four innings and was not charged with an earned run. He gave up seven hits and struck out four batters.

- After giving up a walk and a double to start his two-inning outing, reliever Jack DeCooman retired six in a row that included a pair of strikeouts.

- Offensively, the juniors put up 13 hits with nine players collecting at least one hit. Cooper Davis led the way with a 3-for-6 day at the plate, while Andrew Yerzy and Tyler Duncan collected two each.

TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 3, Davis (3/6); 2, Yerzy (2/4), Duncan (2/6); 1, Holmes (1/1), Naylor (1/3), Hall (1/2), Keyes (1/2), Bremner (1/5), Willow (1/3)
Doubles: 1, Bremner
Triples, 1, Davis, Duncan
Runs: 3, Naylor, Hall; 2, Bremner, Davis; 1, Yerzy, Keyes, Willow, Julien, Duncan
RBIs: 2, Bremner, Keyes, Willow; 1, Yerzy, Duncan
Stolen Bases: 1, Davis, Willow
Strikeouts: 4, Burgmann; 2, DeCooman

UP NEXT
The Junior National Team program will reconvene in Toronto from July 1-4 where they will be guests of the Toronto Blue Jays and participate in Canada Day festivities at Rogers Centre before taking on the Intercounty Baseball League All-Stars on July 2nd in Barrie … On July 4th, the team will travel to Havana, Cuba and take on the Cuban U-18 National Team in a seven game series from July 5-11.