May 23, 2017

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

GUERRA/BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic – Jaden Griffin’s (Lower Sackville, N.S.) six shutout innings highlighted a 7-2 win for the Junior National Team over the DSL Astros to give the squad its first victory of the week.

In the afternoon contest, the juniors held the lead until the fifth before the Yankees pushed across two runs to tie and went ahead with two more in the sixth. The Yankees then hung on for an 8-6 win.

The juniors are now 1-5 with six games remaining on the tour.

GAME ONE INFORMATION

Score: Canada (U-18) 7 DSL Astros 2
Location: Houston Astros Dominican Complex – Guerra, DR
Weather: 32 degrees Celsius, A few clouds

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:

1. Cooper Davis - CF
2. Adam Hall - SS
3. Edouard Julien – DH
4. Noah Naylor – 3B
5. Jason Willow - RF
6. Michael Stovman – 1B
7. Archer Brookman - EH
8. Dondrae Bremner – 2B
9. Victor Cerny - C
10. Rhys Cratty - LF
11. Damiano Palmegiani – EH

Starting Pitcher: LHP Jaden Griffin

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Edouard Julien (Québec City, Que.) ripped a two-out single to right in the top of the first and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) then lined a pitch to right and Julien hustled around third to score the first run of the game.
-Two walks and an error brought in a run for the Junior National Team in the third. Rhys Cratty (Langley, B.C.) and Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) were issued free passes and Cratty moved to third when Adam Hall (London, Ont.) flew out to right. With two out, Davis broke for second and the catcher’s throw sailed into centre field allowing Cratty to trot home.
-Infield singles from Michael Stovman (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Dondrae Bremner (Toronto, Ont.) in between a walk to Archer Brookman (Montréal, Que.) loaded the bases in the third and with two out Cratty drew a walk that brought in the third run of the ballgame.
-Julien reached via walk with one out in the eighth and came around to score after three wild pitches, advancing one base at a time.
-The juniors tacked on three insurance runs in the ninth with Stovman leading off with a double to left before scoring on Brookman’s single to right to get things started. Brookman then scored from third on a Victor Cerny (Winnipeg, Man.) ground out before Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, B.C.) roped a single to right that cashed in Bremner to close out the scoring for the Junior National Team.
-After two perfect innings, reliever William Undershute (Okotoks, A.B.) was touched up for a lead off walk followed by a single before a walk loaded the bases. A sac fly to centre ended the shutout bid before a single to left brought in another Astros run.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS

-Jaden Griffin was in control from the start and faced just 20 batters over six innings of work. Four of his six innings were perfect and he retired seven batters in a row on two separate occasions.
-Reliever William Undershute picked up right where Griffin left off as he retired the first six hitters he faced starting in the seventh.
-Michael Stovman’s 2-for-4 performance, that included a double, led the Junior National Team’s nine-hit attack.

TEAM LEADERS

Hits: 2, Stovman (2/4); 1, Hall (1/4), Julien (1/2), Naylor (1/3), Brookman (1/3), Bremner (1/2), Palmegiani (1/4)
Runs: 2, Julien, Stovman; 1, Brookman, Bremner, Cratty
Doubles: 1, Stovman, Palmegiani
RBIs: 1, Naylor, Brookman, Cerny, Palmegiani
Stolen Bases: 1, Davis
Strikeouts: 3, Griffin; 2, Undershute

GAME TWO INFORMATION

Score: DSL Yankees 8 Canada (U-18) 6
Location: Derek Jeter Field – Boca Chica, DR
Weather: 28 degrees Celsius, Mainly sunny

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:

1. Cooper Davis - DH
2. Adam Hall - SS
3. Noah Naylor – C
4. Michael Stovman 1B
5. Rhys Cratty - LF
6. Edouard Julien – 2B
7. Jason Willow – RF
8. Dondrae Bremner – 3B
9. Archer Brookman - DH
10. Lucas Parente - CF

Starting Pitcher: RHP Tate Dearing

HOW IT HAPPENED

-The juniors got things started in a big way in the top of the second as Edouard Julien (Québec City, Que.) belted a two-run homer over the wall in right field.
-The Yankees pulled even in the home half of the third plating a pair of runs on a RBI double, while a wild pitch scored the other.
-Adam Hall (London, Ont.) got things going in the fourth with a hard single to left and Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) followed with a walk. On the first pitch of his at bat, Michael Stovman (Maple Ridge, B.C.) launched a ball to the gap in right that went for a ground rule double to score Hall and regain the lead. The hits kept on coming as Rhys Cratty (Langley, B.C.) lined an 0-1 pitch the opposite way to right to score Naylor, while Jason Willow (Victoria, B.C.) hit into a fielder’s choice that brought in Stovman.
-The Yankees kept coming and closed the gap to one with two runs in the fourth. With one out, starter Tate Dearing (White Rock, B.C.) gave up a double and then issued a wild pitch to put a runner on third with a sac fly to right bring in a run. A solo home run over the wall in right made it 5-4.
-The offence continued in the fifth as Cooper Davis (Mississauga, Ont.) tripled to the gap in left plating Archer Brookman (Montreal, Que.) all the way from first base and the Junior National Team regained their two-run lead.
-Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) took over for Dearing in the fifth and allowed three straight singles combined with an error that led to a run. With runners on first and second and two out, a single to centre brought in a run to tie the score.
-The seesaw battle continued in the sixth as the Yankees took the lead with two more runs. Smith hit the first batter of the inning and issued a walk to the next before a single to centre brought one in. With one out, the Yankees executed a successful double steal with runners safe at second and home.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS

-Tate Dearing retired the first five batters he faced before allowing an infield single in the second. After a stolen base and throwing error on the same play put a runner on third, a walk put runners on the corners before Dearing got a fly out to centre to get out of the inning unharmed.
-Julien’s home run is the first of the week for the Junior National Team.
-Noah Naylor threw out a runner trying to steal second base to end the seventh inning.
-Cade Smith was touched up for four earned runs but he registered a game-high seven strikeouts over four innings of work.

TEAM LEADERS

Hits: 2, Julien (2/4), Willow (2/4); 1, Davis (1/4), Hall (1/3), Stovman (1/4), Cratty (1/2)
Doubles: 1, Willow, Stovman
Triples: 1, Davis
Home runs: 1, Julien
Runs: 1, Hall, Naylor, Stovman, Cratty, Julien, Brookman
RBIs: 2, Julien; 1, Cratty, Davis, Stovman, Willow
Strikeouts: 7, Smith; 1, Dearing

UP NEXT

The juniors will play another doubleheader tomorrow with the Seattle Mariners (11 am E.T.) and Toronto Blue Jays (2:30 pm E.T.) providing the opposition...RHP Eric Cerantola (Oakville, Ont.) and LHP Wesley Moore (Surrey, B.C.) are the scheduled starters...You can get live updates by following @Team_C_Updates on Twitter.