March 22, 2019

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

SAINT PETERSBURG, FL--- With the annual split-squad contest against the Toronto Blue Jays looming, the Junior National Team wrapped up play at the Walter Fuller Complex this afternoon and defeated a prospects squad from the Detroit Tigers’ organization, 5-4.

TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) led the offence with a 3-for-4 day at the plate including a two-run homer in the fifth and finished with three RBI while Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.) had a hustle infield double on a pop-up that hit the ground, scored two runs and stole a base.

On the mound, the juniors received solid efforts from Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.), Ben Adams (Ottawa, Ont.) and Ryan Scott (Quispamsis, N.B.) keeping the Tigers to three runs on six hits.

Adams worked three scoreless frames without giving up a hit with four walks and one strikeout.

Box Score

GAME BREAKDOWN

Starting pitcher Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) worked a scoreless first inning before a base hit and stolen base in the second frame put a runner in scoring position for the Tigers that came around to score on a single to left field.

Bratt was on the verge of getting out of a jam in third that saw runners on the corners with two out but a single to centre scored a run and Tigers led by two.

The juniors would answer back in the bottom of the frame using a pair of singles including an RBI base hit off the bat of TJ Schofield-Sam while Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to left that knotted the score, 2-2.

Schofield-Sam was at it again in the fifth, this time drilling a 2-2 offering over the wall in right-centre for a two-run home run to put the juniors up by two.

Owen Diodati’s RBI ground out gave the juniors a three-run lead in the seventh before the Tigers cut into the lead in the eighth with an RBI triple off reliever Ryan Scott.

The Tigers made things interesting in the ninth scoring a run on a sacrifice fly after a lead off double but Scott managed a groundout and strikeout to record the save.

UP NEXT

The Junior National Team will hit the road tomorrow for the annual split-squad contest against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dunedin Stadium with the first pitch set for 1:07 p.m. E.T...RHP Theo Millas (Burnaby, BC) will get the start on the mound and be followed by LHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Newmarket, Ont. and LHP Antoine Jean (Montréal, Que.)...Fans can listen to the contest on the Sportsnet Radio Network.