JNT spring: Diodati, Leitch, Makarus go for extra base hits against Yankees

Toronto Mets grad Ryan Leitch (Whhitby, Ont.) doubled in a run as the Canadian Junior National Team lost to a team of New York Yankees first and second-year prospects.

March 21st, 2019

JNT SPRING: Homers lead Yankees over juniors

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

ST. PETERSBURG, FL--- Junior National Team alumnus Mitch Robinson (Surrey, BC) hit one of six New York Yankees home runs on afternoon as his squad went on to defeat the Junior National Team, 15-5.

Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) tripled in a run in the fourth while Ryan Leitch (Whitby, Ont.) had an RBI double in the seventh and Ayden Makarus’ (Airdrie, Alta.) double in the eighth scored two more runs for the juniors. Leitch picked up his second RBI of the game when he singled with two out in the ninth to drive in Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.).

GAME BREAKDOWN

A lead off homer in the top of the second off Canada starting pitcher Connor O’Halloran (Mississauga, Ont.) was the start of the Yankees’ power surge as they went on to hit three more in the third to jump out to a 5-0 lead after three innings.

The juniors jumped on the bats in the top half of the fourth using a single from TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) and a triple from Diodati to score their first run of the ballgame.

Eli Saul (Vancouver, BC) took over on the mound in the fourth and got into trouble early issuing a pair of walks and hitting a batter to combine with three singles as the Yankees added to their lead with four more runs scoring.

Evan O’Toole (Bridgewater, NS) turned in a scoreless inning of work in the sixth but the Yankees’ power surge continued in the sixth as they clubbed two more home runs off reliever Viktor Bergeron (Terrebonne, Que.) en route to a six-run frame.

In the eighth with two runners on and two out, Ayden Makarus smacked a double to left field that brought in Raphaël Pelletier (Montréal, Que.) and Noel McGarry-Doyle (Maple, Ont.) as the juniors continued to battle at the plate against their professional counterparts.

UP NEXT

The Junior National Team will be back in action Friday (1PM ET) at Baseball City in St. Petersburg to take on a prospects squad from the Detroit Tigers’ organization … LHP Ben Adams (Ottawa, Ont.) and RHP Ryan Scott (Quispamsis, NB) and LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) … Fans can listen to the contest by visiting radiostpete.com.

Junior National Team (18U) 5, New York Yankees 15

123 456 789 R H E

CND 000 100 121 -- 5 7 5

NYR 014 400 60X -- 15 16 3

Canadian Junior National Team 18U

Player AB R H RBI BB SO LOB

D Brown CF 3 1 1 0 0 1 0

T Schofield-Sam 4 1 1 0 0 0 3

C Valero 3 1 0 0 0 1 2

O Diodati 4 0 1 1 0 0 2

N Hull 3 0 0 0 0 2 2

A Gomm 3 0 0 0 0 0 1

R Pelletier 2 1 0 0 1 2 0

J Brown 3 0 0 0 0 1 1

N McGarry-Doyle 2 1 1 0 1 0 1

A Makarus 2 0 1 2 1 0 1

N Tremblay 3 0 0 0 0 2 5

R Leitch 2 0 2 2 0 0 0

E Hammill 1 0 0 0 0 1 1

Totals 35 5 7 5 3 10 8

2B: A Makarus, R Leitch, 3B: O Diodati, TB: T Schofield-Sam, A Makarus 2, O Diodati 3, N McGarryDoyle, R Leitch 3, D Brown, HBP: C Valero, D Brown, SB: N McGarry-Doyle, LOB: 8

New York Yankees

AB R H RBI BB SO LOB

Green 3 1 1 0 0 1 1

Lockridgee 2 1 1 1 0 0 0

Burt 4 2 3 6 0 0 1

Garcia 4 2 1 1 1 1 2

M Robinson 3 1 1 1 1 1 3

Gasper 4 2 3 3 1 1 0

McGarry 5 0 0 0 0 2 2

Rodriguez 3 0 0 0 0 3 1

A Guerrero 2 1 1 0 0 0 1

Rosario 3 2 2 0 1 1 0

Mateo 4 3 3 1 0 0 1

Totals 37 15 16 13 4 10 6

2B: Mateo, A Guerrero, Burt, HR: M Robinson, Garcia, Burt 2, Gasper 2, TB: M Robinson 4, Mateo 4, Garcia 4, Green, Lockridge, A Guerrero 2, Rosario 2, Burt 10, Gasper 9, SF: Burt, HBP: M Robinson, SB: Rosario, LOB: 6

Pitching

Canadian Junior National Team

IP H R ER BB SO HR

C O’Halloran 2.2 6 5 5 0 5 4

E Saul 1.2 4 4 3 2 2 0

E O’Toole 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 0

V Bergeron 1.0 6 6 6 0 2 2

Totals 6.1 16 15 14 4 10 6

P-S: E O’Toole 26-12, V Bergeron 45-25, E Saul 45-22, C O’Halloran 55-37, WP: V Bergeron, E Saul, HBP: E Saul, BF: E O’Toole 6, V Bergeron 10, E Saul 12, C O’Halloran 15

Yankees

IP H R ER BB SO HR

Maciejewski 3.0 1 0 0 1 2 0

Higgins 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 0

Diaz 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 0

Bertsch 2.0 1 2 0 1 3 0

Peguero 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0

Totals 9.0 7 5 3 3 10 0

P-S: Maciejewski 39-22, Bertsch 25-16, Diaz 21-10, Higgins 27-20, Peguero 25-15, WP: Bertsch, Diaz, HBP: Diaz 2, BF: Maciejewski 11, Bertsch 9, Diaz 7, Higgins 8, Peguero 5.