JNT Extended Spring: Bratt, Pringle shine as juniors rally to beat Stars
Mitch Brat (Newmarket, Ont.) started and pitched three scoreless innings for the Junior National Team on Sunday. Photo: Baseball Canada
April 21, 2019
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
WEST PALM BEACH, FL--- The Fort Lauderdale Stars rallied late to defeat the Junior National Team on Saturday and on Sunday the tides turned as the juniors scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning to earn a come-from-behind, 5-4, win in extended spring training action.
Eric Martin (Kitchener, Ont.) doubled home Justin Thorsteinson (Langley, BC) with the game-tying runs before Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.) reached on an error after lifting a fly ball to left field that brought in Martin with the go ahead run.
Starting pitcher Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) worked three scoreless innings allowing just one hit with two strikeouts while Gavin Pringle (Duncan, BC) issued two walks and struck out four in three scoreless innings of work to earn the win.
GAME BREAKDOWN
-Simon Lusignan (Varennes, Que.) took over for Bratt in the fourth and got a pop out to start the frame before back-to-back double put the Stars in front, 1-0.
-The juniors answered back in the bottom of the inning and it was Dasan Brown who drew a one out walk and promptly stole his first of two bases on the day before Joshua Walker (Victoria, BC) doubled him home on hard hit ground ball to right field.
-The junior took the lead in the fifth when J-C Masson (Lévis, Que.) walked with the bases loaded but the Stars used an RBI double and two run home in the top half of the sixth to take back the lead, 4-2.
-In the seventh, Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) tripled to right field on a hard line drive with two out and Jaden Brown (Mississauga, Ont.) came up with an RBI single to left to bring the juniors to within one run of the lead.
UP NEXT
The juniors will continue their extended spring training schedule on Monday with a match-up against a prospects squad from the Washington Nationals organization with the first pitch set for 12 p.m. E.T...LHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Newmarket, Ont.), RHP Ryan Scott (Quispamsis, N.B.) and LHP Justin Thorsteinson (Langley, BC) are all expected to see action on the mound.