JNT Fall Instructional League: Juniors fall against Lauderdale Stars
Photo Credit: Baseball Canada
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – A two-run double with two out in the top of the ninth put the Fort Lauderdale Stars up for good as they held on to defeat the Junior National Team, 9-8, in Fall Instructional League action.
The juniors had pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth on an error that saw TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) and Austin Gomm (Mississauga, Ont.) cross home plate before coming within an out of winning the game in the ninth.
Reliever Gavin Pringle (Duncan, BC) worked around a pair of walks getting a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning that put runners on second and third before a double to left gave the Stars the lead.
SCORING
-After a scoreless first inning, the Stars opened the scoring in the second using a two out, RBI single off JNT starter Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) to score the first run of the game.
-The juniors answered back in the bottom of the inning and it was TJ Schofield-Sam who led things off with a double to right before coming around to score on Nicolas Tremblay’s (Mont St-Hilaire, Que.) base-hit to centre. A string of four walks to the next five batters brought in two more runs and Eric Martin (Kitchener, ON) scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1 after two innings.
-The see-saw affair continued the fourth with the Stars using three consecutive hits to pull within two runs of the lead before an RBI ground out followed by a two-run single put them up, 5-4.
-Just like in the first inning, the juniors were quick to answer back and it was Eric Martin who cashed in Nicolas Tremblay on a single to second base. Tremblay had led-off with a walk and stole second base to move into scoring position.
-The Stars broke the 5-5 tie with two runs in the seventh that scored on an error after the Stars used three consecutive one out singles to load the bases.
-In the eighth, Dasan Brown’s (Oakville, Ont.) sac-fly to left field brought in Eric Martin from third base after he led the frame off with a walk and advanced to third on an error.
QUICK HITS
-Mitchell Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) was impressive over his two-inning outing allowing just two hits while striking out two batters.
-The eight-run output was the highest run total for the Junior National Team at the Fall Instructional League Camp.
-The Junior National Team was active on the base paths swiping six bases including three from Micah McDowell (Coldbrook, NS).
-TJ Schofield-Sam had one stolen base while leading the six-hit attack with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
UP NEXT
The Junior National Team will be back at Champion Stadium in Lake Buena Vista tomorrow for a 1 p.m. E.T. contest against the University of Central Florida...Viktor Bergeron (Terrebonne, Que.) is the scheduled starter.