By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

IBIÚNA, Brazil – A four-run sixth inning highlighted by a Wes Darvill (Langley, BC) solo home run helped Canada to a 5-1 win over Panama to open the Pan Am Games Qualification Tournament at the Yakult Baseball Academy.

Starting pitcher Scott Richmond (Vancouver, B.C.) provided Canada with five strong innings on the mound yielding just one run on three hits and a walk while striking out two batters. His lone run came with two out in the fourth inning in the form of a solo home run as Panama opened the scoring.

Canada left the bases loaded in the first and second inning before the bats woke up in the sixth with Darvill’s blast followed by a double off the bat of Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) who later scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch. Kellin Deglan (Langley, B.C.) and Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) each doubled in a run before Deglan iced the game away in the eighth with a solo blast that landed well beyond the fence in right field.

Richmond exited the game after the fifth and Manager Ernie Whitt went to his bullpen using four different relievers who slammed the door shut on Panama retiring 11 batters in a row before an infield single with two out in the ninth.

Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) pitched a perfect sixth inning and ended up getting credited with the win while Chris Leroux (Mississauga, Ont.), Evan Rutckyj (Windsor, Ont.) and Dustin Molleken (Regina, Sask.) followed him out of the bullpen.

UP NEXT: Canada will get an off day tomorrow before taking on Panama on Thursday, at the Yakult Baseball Complex with the first pitch set to fly at 8 a.m. ET ... RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, QC) is scheduled to start on the mound ... The best way to stay up-to-date on the action is by following Baseball Canada on Twitter.