Guerra, DR-Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) and Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) each hit solo home runs, while Daniel Procopio (Toronto, ON) and Luke Manuel (Surrey, BC) combined for seven shutout innings as the Junior National Team defeated the Kansas City Royals Dominican prospects 4-2.
Naylor’s homer broke a scoreless tie when he led off the top of the fourth turning on a 3-2 fastball that went over the fence in right field.
“I was looking fastball and he came with one that I could handle,” said Naylor after the game. “It felt great off the bat and I’m glad we were able to jump on the scoreboard.”
Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) followed with a single up the middle and after two walks came around to score when Toby Handley (Whitby, ON) hit into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.
Starter Daniel Procopio was lights out through three innings allowing only an infield single on a weak groundball between the mound and home plate in the third inning.
“I had a good warm-up before the game and felt really loose out there,” explained Procopio. “I was able to command my fastball early which really helped me today.
Procopio allowed a walk and a single to lead-off the fourth, but managed to get a double play and record a strikeout to finish his outing.
“I got some great defence behind me, especially on that double play in the fourth,” he added.
Reliever Luke Manuel made his JNT debut in the fifth and picked up right where Procopio left off keeping the Royals off the scoreboard.
Manuel allowed a lead-off single in the fifth, but induced three ground ball outs to get out of the inning.
In the seventh, Tyler O’Neill belted a solo shot over the wall in left to give the juniors some breathing room and Manuel closed the door in the seventh to finish his three inning outing.
The juniors took advantage of a couple walks and two wild pitches in the eighth which led runs by Mitchell Bigras (Sarnia, ON) and Toby Handley.
The Royals added a run in both the eighth and ninth innings off reliever Sean Ratcliffe (Ajax, ON), but he later closed the door getting two ground outs to end the game.
The juniors banged out seven hits on the day with two coming off the bat of Jake Lumley (Windsor, ON).
Notes: Tomorrow, the juniors will travel to Boca Chica to take-on the Cincinnati Reds Dominican prospects at 10:30am ET…Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) is expected to start on the mound…Congratulations to JNT Pitching Coach Chris Reitsma (Calgary, AB) who was inducted into the Alberta Sport Hall of Fame last night…Reitsma will join the JNT in the Dominican tomorrow.
