Quebec scores late to earn tie with Prairies at T12
Medical Personnel checks on Prairies pitcher Jackson Fraser after Fraser was struck by a line drive on the back of his right shoulder in the top of the third inning. Fraser stayed in the game, and struck out the next Quebec batter to end the inning. Photo Credit: Peter Mendelsohn
By Peter Mendelsohn
Canadian Baseball Network
Nicolas Tremblay scored the tying run for Quebec in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Prairies and Quebec played to a 1-1 tie in the final opening day game of the T12 tournament at Rogers Centre.
With Tremblay on second base with one out, Quebec shortstop Yohann Dessereault hit a seemingly innocent grounder to Landy Pena at short. Pena’s errant throw got by David Barron at first, allowing Tremblay to round third and tie the game at 1-1.
Two batters later, Quebec had a chance to take a late lead with Tristan Aspeck on third base and just one out. Alexis Gravel hit a line out to right fielder Joshua Malainey, which should have been deep enough to drive in Aspeck from third with the go-ahead run, but Aspeck had started running off contact and had to retreat to third after the catch was made.
“Any time you’re at third with less than two outs, and the ball is hit in the air, you have to get back to the bag and tag up,” said Quebec coach Denis Boucher.
“He would’ve had plenty of time, and that’s why the young players are here. That’s how they learn.”
Earlier in the game, it seemed as if the Prairies team might pull off an improbable feat — winning the game without recording a single hit.
The Prairies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Brodie Guenther drove in Anthony Morales from third base with an RBI ground out. Morales had gotten to third without a Prairies base hit, reaching first on a walk, and advancing to third on a walk and a ground out.
After five innings, the Prairies team still held a 1-0 lead. And they still hadn’t gotten a single hit.
“We were talking about that on the bench,” said Boucher. “We were saying when’s the last time you saw a team that doesn’t get a hit win the ball game?”
Morales finally ended Quebec’s no-hit bid by smacking a line-drive double off of Philippe Breton with two outs in the top of the sixth.
The round robin portion of the T12 tournament does not allow for extra innings, meaning that the game automatically ended after seven innings were complete.
Both teams get back to action on Saturday with the Prairies playing at 10 a.m. ET against the Futures team and Quebec up against the Atlantic squad at 3 p.m. ET.