Sierra, Moore, Brown, Palmegiani excel in Canuck win
RHP William Sierra (Montréal, Que.) pitched three scoreless innnings as the Canadian juniors edged Boston Red Sox minor leaguers 2-1. Photo: Adam Morissette.
JNT Spring Training: Juniors edge Red Sox
March 31st, 2017
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Junior National Team picked up their first win of the Spring Training Camp with a 2-1 win over a group of prospects from the Boston Red Sox organization.
The juniors received strong pitching performances from William Sierra (Montréal, QC), Wesley Moore (Surrey, BC) and Austin Brown (Powell River, BC), while Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, BC) smacked two doubles, scored a run and drove in another.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Canada (U-18) 2 Boston Red Sox 1
Location: Red Sox Minor League Complex – Fort Myers, Fla.
Weather: 24 degrees Celsius, Cloudy, Wind 39 km/h
Canada 18U Starting Lineup:
1. Cooper Davis - CF
2. Adam Hall – SS
3. Noah Naylor – 1B
4. Clayton Keyes - RF
5. Edouard Julien – 2B
6. Rhys Cratty – LF
7. Dondrae Bremner – 3B
8. Jason Willow – EH
9. Archer Brookman – EH
10. Victor Cerny - C
11. Damiano Palmegiani - EH
Starting Pitcher: RHP William Sierra
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The juniors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Palmegiani scored on a fielder’s choice. He led off the inning with a double to left and moved to third on Adam Hall’s (London, Ont.) single. Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) then lifted a ball that got caught in the wind and drifted into shallow centre and the outfielder dropped the ball. With the runners forced to hold, Hall was thrown out at second on a close play, while Palmegiani scored.
- Reliever Wesley Moore took over for Sierra in the fourth and gave up a lead off double to left before a single put runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice on a groundball to second baseman Edouard Julien (Québec, Que.) scored one run before Moore got a couple ground outs to end the inning.
- The juniors regained the lead in the fifth and it came with two out as Victor Cerny (Winnipeg, Man.) and Damiano Palmegiani strung together back-to-back doubles to left. For Palmegiani, it was his second consecutive double.
JNT HIGHLIGHTS
- With one out and runner on first in the bottom of the second, a batted ball to wall in left was scooped up by left fielder Rhys Cratty (Langley, BC), relayed to shortstop Hall, who threw a strike to catcher Cerny, who applied the tag to record the second out of the inning.
- Starter Sierra was impressive throughout his three-innings of work. The right-hander allowed a single in the first, walked a batter in the second before working a perfect frame in the third. His three scoreless included two strikeouts.
- Reliever Moore allowed a run in the fourth but bounced back with three scoreless innings from the fifth through seventh. He escaped trouble in the sixth as the Red Sox loaded the bases with just one out before he registered a strikeout and got a fly out to left to end the threat.
- Of the Junior National Team’s nine hits, four went for extra bases including a pair of doubles off the bat of Palmegiani who ended his day going 2-for-3.
- Calgary native Jordan Procyshen, the lone Canadian in the Red Sox organization, played in the Junior National Team program in 2011. He started behind the plate for the Red Sox today and is slated to begin the season at Double A Portland.
TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 2, Palmegiani, Hall; 1, Naylor, Bremner, Keyes, Cerny, Julien
Runs: 1, Palmegiani, Cerny
Doubles: 2, Palmegiani; 1, Cerny, Julien
RBI: 1, Naylor, Palmegiani
Stolen Bases: 1, Naylor, Hall
Strikeouts: 3, Moore; 2, Sierra, Brown
UP NEXT
The Junior National Team will return to the Walter Fuller Complex tomorrow and Sunday, and play a pair of inter-squad games before return home on Monday…The next event on the Junior National Team program calendar is the annual Extended Spring Training Camp in Orlando, Florida from April 20-29.