National Championships: Playoff matchups set
Photo Credit: Morris Lamont
August 18, 2018
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
The gold and bronze medal match-ups have been decided at the DQ® 13U National Western Championship in Brandon, Man., while playoff and medal games are still yet-to-be determined at the 18U National in Fort McMurray, Alta., and the 21U Men’s Championship in St. Thomas, Ont.
There was plenty of action on the diamond across the three events on Saturday so let’s get right to it!
DQ® 13U National Western Championship
British Columbia, represented by White Rock with take on St. Albert from Alberta to decide the champion at the DQ® 13U National Western Championship.
White Rock booked their ticket to the gold medal contest with a 6-2 win over host Brandon with Jaron Palaschuk and Aiden Henderson playing prominent roles in the victory. Palaschuk had a double and drove in two runs while also tossing two scoreless innings on the mound with three strikeouts. Meanwhile, Henderson fanned nine over five innings of work to record the win.
The other semi-final was an all-Alberta contest featuring St. Alberta and Red Deer with the latter scoring a close, 6-5, decision. Jack Lines registered six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings on the mound to get the win while Michael Yusypchuk drove in a pair of runs. Sander Sampson had a double and two RBI in the loss for Red Deer who will play Brandon for the bronze medal.
In placement games, Oildome from Manitoba defeated provincial-rival North Winnipeg, 9-8, to claim seventh place, while another provincial battle saw Regina top Saskatoon, 8-5, to earn fifth place.
18U
Pool A winner Québec and Pool B top seed Etobicoke are set to square-off on Sunday morning in the first of two semi-finals at Shell Place.
Having already secured a semi final berth, Québec came up on the short end of an 8-1 decision to Saskatchewan in their only game of the day.
In Etobicoke’s lone game of the day, Ian Zwartz fired a complete game three-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Nova Scotia.
Pool A runners-up and defending National Champions, the London Badgers, will face Alberta in the other semi final match-up.
A Judd Walker grand slam in the bottom of the sixth came in response to a Caleb Cassie three-run homer for BC in the top of the inning to give London a 6-5 win.
Alberta defeated BC, 12-2, in the quarterfinals getting three RBI from Brad Goodwin while Michael Brisson belted two triples and scored four runs.
21 Men’s
Québec and Mississauga North each clinched spots in Sunday’s semi-final contest by securing first place in Poll A and B, respectively.
Québec earned two wins on the day defeating host St. Thomas, 8-7, before getting by Saskatchewan, 6-2, to finish the round robin a perfect 4-0. Jonathan Martin belted two home runs and had four RBI in the win over St. Thomas while David Gauthier homered and drove in three in the win over Saskatchewan.
In a game that decided top spot in Pool B, Mississauga North held Oshawa to just one hit and came out with a 3-0 win in an all-Ontario battle.
Mississauga North starter Chris Wyslobocki scattered one hit and three walks over 2 1/3 innings of work before Evan Cruickshank fired 4 1/3 scoreless frames allowing just one walk to record the win. Oshawa’s Alec Brown turned in a solid performance on the mound going seven innings and not allowing an earned run with four strikeouts.
Oshawa will play Windsor in Sunday morning’s first quarterfinal with the winner taking on Québec in the first semi-final, while New Brunswick will face host St. Thomas in the other match-up with Mississauga North awaiting the winner.