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Photo: Just Sports Photography

OTTAWA- Competition kicked off in Saskatoon today at the Baseball Canada Cup. A total of 8 games were played on day one at both Cairns and Leakos fields.

Québec sits atop Pool A with 2 wins on the day while BC and Ontario trail with 1-1 records. PEI, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan make up the top half of Pool B all having won their games.

Here’s a look at all of the action from day one:

Québec 4 Ontario 2

Québec took an early 2-0 lead in the 1^st inning thanks to a couple of RBI singles off the bats of Pierre-Olivier Avoine (Gatineau, QC) and Édouard Julien (Québec, QC). Ontario cut the lead to one in the top of the 5^th when Luke Torino (Toronto, ON) doubled and then scored on Gibson Krzeminski’s (Tecumseh, ON) single. Québec increased their lead in the bottom of the 6^th on two unearned runs. Ontario’s comeback fell short in the top of the 7^th despite loading the bases with only 1 out. 1 run came across in the inning on a fielder’s choice. Québec’s starting pitcher David Métivier (Saint-Georges, QC) had a successful outing striking out 5 of 18 batters faced. Métivier pitched 4 shutout innings allowing 3 hits and 2 walks.

British Columbia 3 Alberta 1

Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) was dominant on the mound for British Columbia tossing a complete game allowing no earned runs on only 3 hits. The towering right-hander struck out a tournament leading 11 batters. The close match-up was decided on only two half-innings of run production. 3 runs came across for British Columbia in the top of the 4^th thanks to RBIs from Jordan Dray (Surrey, BC) and Steven Moretto (Burnaby, BC). Yi-An Pan (Langley, BC) scored on a wild pitch in the inning. Luke Roberts (Edmonton, AB) was the only runner to cross the plate for Alberta after reaching base on an error by the shortstop. Alberta’s starting pitcher Quentin Kopjar (Okotoks, AB) went 4 innings allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks.

New Brunswick 7 Nova Scotia 4

New Brunswick’s offense got to Sean Hubley (Sheet Harbour, NS) early putting up 6 runs in the first 2 innings. Brett Mercier (Moncton, NB) capped off a strong first inning with a 2-RBI single to give New Brunswick an early 4-0 lead. The team extended their lead in the top of the 2^nd when Bryson Woodworth (Moncton, NB) and Zack Gosse (Miramichi, NB) both scored. Hubley left the game after 1.1 innings of work allowing 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Nova Scotia put up an impressive effort with hits coming from 7 different players. 3 of Nova Scotia’s 4 runs were scored in the bottom of the third thanks in part to Ryan O’Toole’s (Bridgewater, NS) 2-RBI single.

Prince Edward Island 10 Newfoundland and Labrador 0 (5 innings)

PEI’s offense was dominant in their debut stretching out their run production over 5 innings to top Newfoundland 10-0. Matt Barlow (Summerside, PE) led the charge for PEI going 2 for 2 with 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, 1 RBI and 3 runs scored. Ryne MacIsaac (Charlottetown, PE) was right there with him going 1 for 2 with 2 walks, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Pitchers Kyle Pinksen (Kensington, PE) and Porter Smith (Cornwall, PE) combined for 5 innings of shutout baseball for PEI while Newfoundland starter Ryan Morgan (St. John’s, NL) was handed the loss. Morgan lasted 2.1 innings giving up 6 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 2. Tyler Hennessey (Conception Bay South, NL) punched through a hit for Newfoundland in the top of the 4^th to end the no-hitter. Brandon Watts’ (Hampshire, PE) 2-RBI double in the bottom of the 5^th brought the game to an end by extending PEI’s lead to 10.

Québec 5 British Columbia 4

Québec came out on top in another close game. Starter Conor Angel (Lachine, QC) allowed 4 runs, only 1 earned in his 3 innings of work. Angel gave up 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Jake Polancic (Langley, BC) took the mound to start the game for BC allowing 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. BC held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 4^th, but fell behind on a 3 run inning from Québec. Jérémy Gonthier’s (Saint-Pierre, QC) RBI double and Alexandre Roux’s (St-Lin, QC) 2-RBI single gave Québec the 5-4 lead. Roux had 3 RBIs in the game. Québec’s relievers Mathieu Massicotte (Québec, QC) and Pierre-Olivier Avoine (Gatineau, QC) combined for 4 shutout innings to hold on to the lead.

Ontario 5 Alberta 0

Ontario shutout Alberta in their 5-0 victory led by third baseman Bradley Aldred’s (Whitby, ON) strong offensive performance. Aldred went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs. His double in the bottom of the first brought in 2 runs to give Ontario their lead that lasted them the rest of the game. Starting pitcher Niall Windeler (Toronto, ON) tossed 5 shutout innings for Ontario allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. Reliever Travis Keys (London, ON) took over in the 6^th pitching 2 inning of no-hit baseball and striking out 4. Bryce Fraser (Lethbridge, AB) started on the mound for Alberta allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings of work. Fraser struck out 1 batter in the loss.

Saskatchewan 3 Manitoba 2

Saskatchewan gave the hometown fans something to cheer for when they pulled off their 3-2 come from behind win on home soil. Manitoba took the first lead in the top of the 3^rd when Ian Briscoe (Winnipeg, MB) scored on a passed ball. Liam Giesbrecht (Winkler, MB) came home shortly after when Malik Gibbons (Winnipeg, MB) walked with the bases loaded. Saskatchewan shortened the deficit to 1 in the bottom of the 5^th when Carter Dahl (Clavet, SK) came in on Jared Binsfeld’s (Saskatoon, SK) sacrifice fly. Manitoba’s starting pitcher Branden Hatley (Morden, MB) put up a solid performance allowing 3 runs on 3 walks and 2 hits in 5.1 innings of work. Hatley struck out 11 of 23 batters faced. Saskatchewan took the lead in the bottom of the 6^th on a 2-RBI double off the bat of Dryden Kaczmar (Regina, SK) and held on in the top of the 7^th to top Manitoba 3-2. They avoided a scare in the last half inning when Logan Hofmann (Muenster, SK) struck out the last batter with the bases loaded to end the game.

Up Next: Tournament play continues tomorrow with eight games scheduled beginning at 8:30am CST.

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