April 20, 2019

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

WEST PALM BEACH, FL--- A two out triple in the top of the ninth scored three runs to break a 1-1 tie and the Fort Lauderdale Stars hung on to defeat the Junior National Team, 4-1, as the extended spring training camp continued at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Saturday.

Starting pitcher Ben Adams (Ottawa, Ont.) turned in a near flawless three innings on the mound save for an error on the first batter of the ballgame before he went on to retire nine batters in a row including four strikeouts.

Eli Saul (North Vancouver, BC) followed that up with three scoreless innings of his own allowing two hits and one walk while fanning two batters.

Offensively, the Junior National Team managed six hits with Noah Hull (Toronto, Ont.) and Eric Martin (Kitchener, Ont.) coming up with doubles.

Box Score

GAME BREAKDOWN

-A one out single followed by a double to left off reliever Viktor Bergeron (Terrebonne, Que.) broke the scoreless tie and gave the Stars a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh.

-The juniors answered back in the home half of the eighth when Owen Diodati’s (Niagara Falls, Ont.) line drive single to right plated a hustling TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) with the tying run.

-Bergeron worked around a two-out walk to get out of the eighth inning unharmed but loaded the bases in the ninth on a dropped third strike, double and walk to set the stage for the bases clearing double that gave the Stars the lead.

UP NEXT

The juniors will continue their extended spring training schedule on Sunday with another match-up against the independent Fort Lauderdale Stars with the first pitch set for 12 p.m. E.T...LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.), RHP Simon Lusignan (Varennes, Que.) and RHP Gavin Pringle (Duncan, BC) are all expected to see action on the mound.