Baseball Canada’s national junior team vaulted back into first place in Pool B at the World Junior AAA Championships in Ciego de Avila, Cuba, today thanks to a convincing 8-1 victory over previously unbeaten Chinese Taipei.
Both teams now sit at 3-1 with one round-robin game remaining in the tournament, but Canada would get the nod over Chinese Taipei virtue of today’s win.
Sheldon McDonald (Spruce Grove, Alta.) was impressive for Canada as a powerful Chinese Taipei offence had no answer for the Canadian starting pitcher. McDonald went eight innings strong while giving up only one earned run behind seven hits, two strikeouts and only one walk.
While McDonald was throwing seeds, Canada’s hitters were seeing beach balls, clobbering 15 hits on route to yet another big offensive game. Out of the lead off spot, Brett Lawrie was the catalyst, going 5-for-5 with a double, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored, while catcher Jordan Wideman followed suit by going 3-for-4 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored.
Eight of the nine Canadian hitters collected at least one base hit. Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was 2-for-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored and Kyle Orr (Victoria, B.C.) was 1-for-4 with 2 RBI. Chase Larsson (Vancouver, B.C.), Jonathan Waltenbury (Bowmanville, Ont.), Shayne Willson (Surrey, B.C.) and David Narodowski had a base hit each.
Leslie Williams (Scarborough, Ont.) threw a hitless ninth inning to cap off a great outing by Canada.
Canada’s (3-1) final round-robin match-up comes tomorrow afternoon against an upstart Italian squad (2-2). Game time is scheduled for 10 a.m. EST.
Box Score: In the side bar on the left-hand side, click on "Resultados de Los Juegos"
Standings: In the sidebar on the left-hand side, click on “Posiciones B.”
