August 9, 2022

Baseball Canada

Here’s a rundown of the action from the baseball competition at Day 3 of the Canada Summer Games on Tuesday:

Day 3 Recap

Ontario 6 - 7 British Columbia (Oakes Park)

Two powerhouses met in a decisive round-robin game on Tuesday night at Oakes Park Stadium. British Columbia ultimately defeated Ontario by one run in a close affair.

Lucas Laukkanen (Nanaimo, BC) led Team BC's offence, collecting a pair of hits in the leadoff spot while scoring one and driving in one. Sam Shaw (Victoria, BC) continued to spark his team offensively, going 1-for-3, while also scoring a run. Dioscoro Gama (Maple Ridge, BC) also went 1-for-3, driving in a pair of runs. Noah Del Rosario (Surrey, BC) came in to close the game in the seventh, working a perfect inning and fanning the first two batter. For Ontario, Brendan Lawson (Havelock, Ont.) continues to swing a hot bat, collecting two more hits in three at bats, while also scoring two runs. Brodie Peart (LaSalle, Ont.) also had a pair of hits and RBIs. 

Nova Scotia 7 - 15 Saskatchewan (Welland Stadium)

Saskatchewan's offence had a hot start and a strong finish, scoring big in both the first and sixth innings for a convincing win over Nova Scotia.

Carter Beck (Carnduff, Sask.) came up clutch for his team, driving in three runs and scoring two in a 2-for-4 performance. Callum Hollinger (Carnduff, Sask.) had himself a perfect game at the dish, collecting two hits and reaching base all three times he came up to the plate. Evan Deringer (Regina, Sask.) also had a good day, going 2-for-3, driving in a pair and scoring a pair. Jonah Kuntz (Regina, Sask.) closed out the action for Team Sask, working a perfect frame and striking out one batter. Seth MacPherson (Bible Hill, N.S.) and Nick Murray (Dartmouth, N.S.) both went 2-for-4 for Nova Scotia.

Newfoundland & Labrador 9 - 7 New Brunswick (Oakes Park)

Despite an early five-run deficit, New Brunswick almost came all the way back, but eventually fell 9-7 to Newfoundland & Labrador. 

Hudson White (St. John's, Nfld.) and Ethan Carter (Paradise, Nfld.) led their team's offence. They each had one hit and drove in two and three runs respectively. Braedan Walsh (St. John's, Nfld.) also provided a spark out of the leadoff spot for Team NL going 2-for-4 while driving in one and scoring one. Brady Sheppard (Lark Harbour, Nfld.) tossed all seven innings for Newfoundland, allowing only two earned runs on eight hits. Connor Sheasgreen (Miramichi, N.B.) did his part for Team New Brunswick, collecting a hit in three at bats, driving in three and scoring one run of his own. New Brunswick brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh after scoring a run in the inning before Sheasgreen flew out to deep left field to end the game. 

Manitoba 4 - 0 Prince Edward Island (Welland Stadium)

Manitoba got out to an early lead to defeat Prince Edward Island 4-0.

Manitoba got the offence going right away, scoring a run in the first inning thanks to an RBI triple by Cody Gunderson (St. Malo, Man.). He was also responsible for Manitoba's third run of the game when he contributed an RBI single in the fifth inning. The offence was backed by strong performances from Tyler Robertson (Boissevain, Man.) and Jack Lussier (Winnipeg, Man.) who combined for a seven-inning shutout, punching out four and three batters respectively. Prince Edward Island put up a good fight, matching Manitoba in hits despite having nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. 

Québec 1 - 6 Alberta (Oakes Park)

Alberta beat Québec 6-1 in a battle of undefeated provinces.

Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) led his club’s offence with his second four-RBI game of the tournament. Hartman smashed a grand slam home run in the bottom of the second to help his club to a six-run inning. They were backed up by a strong performance on the mound by Jaxon Zanolli (Olds, Alta.) who worked six complete frames, allowing only one run in three hits, while striking out six. The only run for Team Québec would come in the fourth inning off a Justin Anctil (Mirabel, Que.) RBI single.

With his back-to-back four-RBI performances Eric Hartman ties 12 other players at the top of the leaderboard for the Canada Summer Games single-game RBI record. More impressively, he also becomes the new Canada Summer Games RBI king, surpassing the record for total runs batted in the entire tournament. A record that was previously set by Kevin Mailloux (Team Ontario) in 2005 with a total of 10 RBIs. Hartman currently has 12 RBIs threw just four tournament games. 

British Columbia 18 - 8 Nova Scotia (Welland Stadium)

Nova Scotia suffered a 10-run loss to British Columbia after a late offensive outburst by BC.

Eight of the nine players on Team BC collected at least one hit and one RBI. In total, BC combined for 13 hits and 18 runs. Sam Shaw (Victoria, BC) got things started for BC, taking the first pitch he saw in the game deep into right field for a two-run home run. Angelo Franco (Burnaby, BC) and Zach Cavanagh (Chilliwack, BC) both went 2-for-4 for BC. Meanwhile, Aiden Henderson (Chilliwack, BC) was the winning pitcher, working 5 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits while striking out nine. Lane George (Belnan, N.S.) and Connor Creelman (Hubley, N.S.) both had a multi-hit games for Nova Scotia, while Mitch Doucette (Dartmouth, N.S.) produced a pair of runs for his club as part of a 1-for-3 performance. 

Ontario 4 - 5 Saskatchewan (Oakes Park)

Saskatchewan scored all five of their runs in the fifth running and then managed to hold off a tough Ontario squad for a 5-4 win on Tuesday morning.  

Oakland Flodell (Clavet, Sask.) continued to be a spark at the top of the Saskatchewan lineup, collecting two hits in his three at bats. Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Sask.) had the clutch hit for his team, smashing a two-run home run to flip the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. Saskatchewan was backed up by a strong pitching performance from Adam Beamin (Saskatoon, Sask.) who worked four complete innings, holding the Ontario offence to one earned run on one hit while striking out one batter. Ontario got off to a hot start in this one, scoring two runs on the top of the second, taking advantage of a Saskatchewan error. Lucas Alberti (Toronto, Ont.) and Calvin Warrillow (Toronto, Ont.) both went 1-for-3 to lead the Ontarians offensively. Preston Barr (St. Joachim, Ont.) had a productive morning at the plate, driving in a pair of runs despite having no hits in the game.