Elliott, Naylor, Smith excel for juniors in loss to Nats' prospects
LaRon Smith (Spruce Grove, Alta.) had two hits for the Canadian Junior National Team in their 7-2 loss to a team of Washington Nationals' prospects on Thursday. Photo Credit: Eddie Michels
April 26, 2018
JNT EXTENDED: Nationals defeat juniors
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – A prospects squad from the Washington Nationals organization used 14 hits and scored seven runs to hand the Junior National Team a 7-2 loss as the Extended Spring Training Camp continued at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
LaRon Smith (Spruce Grove, Alta.) paced the Junior National Team offence with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, including a double and an RBI.
On the mound, newcomer Evan Elliott (Toronto, Ont.) tossed two scoreless innings allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out one. Zack McQuaid (Oshawa, Onot.) was on the mound for an unearned run and had a strikeout in two innings of work.
SCORING
- Things didn’t start well for Junior National Team pitcher Theo Millas (Burnaby, B.C.) in the top of the first as a lead off triple scored on a single that followed before a sac fly put the Nats up by two after one inning.
- The Nats continued to swing the bats in the top half of the second using three consecutive singles to add a run to their lead before Millas got a ground out to first and a strikeout to prevent any further damage.
- Olivier Morin-Larocque (L’Ancienne-Lorette, Que.) took over for Elliott in the fifth and found himself in a two-on, two-out situation before giving up a double to centre that put the Nats in front, 4-0.
- They would go on to add a pair of runs in the sixth on three hits and an error.
- The juniors got on the scoreboard in the seventh when Jaden Brown (Mississauga, Ont.) lead off with a walk, moved to second on a Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.) base hit and scored on an ensuing error.
- Back-to-back doubles from Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and LaRon Smith in the eighth brought in the second Junior National Team run of the ballgame.
- The Nats rounded out the scoring with a run in the ninth that came in on a sacrifice fly.
QUICK HITS
- Elliot worked his way around a two-out walk in the fourth getting his only strikeout of the game. He received some help in the fifth when catcher Noah Naylor picked a runner off at first for the final out of the inning.
-Six different Junior National Team players had hits as the squad collected seven on the game.
UP NEXT
The Junior National Team will be back at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches tomorrow and face a prospects squad from the Houston Astros organization at Noon ET...LHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Newmarket, Ont.) is scheduled to start on the mound.