Fall Instructs: Braves too much for juniors
Great Lake Canadians right-hander Eric Cerantola (Oakville, Ont.) started and pitched three innings for the Junior National Team against a team of Atlanta Braves prospects on Friday. Photo Credit: Christian J. Stewart
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida- The Junior National Team had a tough time containing an Atlanta Braves’ offence that slugged-out 17 hits en route to a 13-1 win as the Fall Instructional League Camp continued.
After a scoreless first inning, the Braves put two runs on the board in the second as they loaded the bases off starter Eric Cerantola (Oakville, Ont.) on a leadoff single, followed by a walk and hit batter before a passed ball scored a run. Cerantola followed with a wild pitch and the Braves led by two after two.
Cerantola got two quick outs in the third, including his third strikeout of the game, but a single and walk led to an RBI single to right that put the Braves up by three.
Reliever Justin Thorsteinson (Langley, B.C.) took over for Cerantola on the mound to start the fourth and got into trouble early allowing a pair of single before a sac bunt put runners on second and third. An RBI single followed by a two-out double gave the Braves two more runs to make it 6-0.
The Braves added a pair in the fifth before a sac-fly brought in their 10th run of the game in the sixth.
The juniors pushed across a run in the bottom of the inning using a Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, B.C.) single, a Ryan Faragher (London, Ont.) walk and a passed ball to put runners on second and third. A second consecutive passed ball allowed Palmegiani to trot home from third for what would turn out to be their only run of the ballgame.
Reliever Jaden Griffin (Lower Sackville, N.S.) recorded the final two outs in the sixth inning and came back out for the seventh where the Braves used five singles to score two more runs. Griffin came back out for the eighth and worked around a one-out walk before getting a double play to end the frame.
Besides Palmegiani’s single in the sixth, LaRon Smith (Spruce Grove, Alta.) had the Junior National Team’s only other hit of the ballgame.
UP NEXT: The juniors will be back at ESPN Wide World of Sports on Saturday for a 10 a.m. E.T. contest against the Atlanta Braves…RHP Ben Abram (Georgetown, Ont.) is scheduled to start on the mound.