OTTAWA – Some great pitching was on display at the Midget Championship in Halifax, while weather was once again a factor in Mascouche at the Bantam Girls Championship. There were three complete-game shutouts at the Midget tournament, two of which involved New Brunswick. Sean Silliphant (Saint John, NB) threw a five inning, one-hitter in a 10-0 win over host Halifax where all 10 New Brunswick runs came in the first inning. However, New Brunswick was on the other side of things in their second game of the day as Jeremy Goodall (St. Albert, AB) threw a complete game, two-hitter as Alberta defeated New Brunswick 2-0. The third complete game came at the hands of Nick Alexiou (Port Coquitlam, BC) who threw seven innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven on route to a 2-0 win over Manitoba. In other matchups on the day, Ontario improved to 4-0 with wins over Saskatchewan and Halifax by score of 6-1 and 11-1. Québec dominated Newfoundland & Labrador 21-2, while Prince Edward Island went 2-0 today with a 6-3 win over Saskatchewan and a 5-3 upset win over Alberta. British Columbia also went 2-0 today, winning their first game of the day over Nova Scotia 6-2. In Mascouche, Québec six of the eight games scheduled were completed as organizers are trying to get in all the games on time. Of those who were able to get on the field, British Columbia was able to complete its preliminary schedule with a pair of victories by identical scores of 11-1 over Alberta and Lanaudière. Daniella Matteucci (Fruitvale, BC) threw a five inning complete game versus Alberta, allowing one run on one hit. Katie Wallace (Nanaimo, BC) was 2-for-4 with four RBI. In other action, Saskatchewan also was able to complete their preliminary schedule with a pair of wins, first over Lanaudière 8-4 and then over Alberta 4-2. Nova Scotia defeated Ontario by a score of 5-3 while Québec manhandled Manitoba 21-0. Click here for complete Baseball Canada National Championships coverage.
OTTAWA – The Milwaukee Brewers signed Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC), their first round draft pick of the 2008 MLB First Year Player Draft, to his first professional contract earlier this week. The 16th overall pick, and highest Canadian position player ever selected, signed a 1.7 million dollar signing bonus prior to heading over to Beijing for the Olympic Games. "We are very happy for Brett and his family. He is truly a special talent and we wish him the very best as he embarks on what is surely to be a successful professional career with the Milwaukee Brewers," says Director of National Teams and Head Coach for Baseball Canada Greg Hamilton. The Brewers would have liked to have Lawrie available to play professionally immediately after signing; however the 18-year-old’s commitment to the National Teams this season will prevent him from playing in the Brewers until he reports for the instructional league this fall. That scenario sits just fine with the Brewers. "The [Olympic] experience for Brett is going to be a great experience. It's a chance to represent your country and you're playing against the best national teams in the world," says Brewers amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik in an interview on Brewers.com. Prior to joining the Olympic Team, Brett was in Edmonton for the World Junior Championship where Canada finished sixth and Lawrie took home the tournament’s triple crown, taking the top hitter award with his .469 average, hit three homers to earn the most home runs award and led all hitters with 16 RBI, earning the award for most runs driven in. He was also selected to the tournament’s World All-Star team as the catcher.
OTTAWA – The Midget Championship and the Bantam Girls Championship both got underway on Thursday and if day one is any indication, we are in for some great baseball action. The Midget Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia saw a pair of barn burners to open the tournament. Ontario would defeat New Brunswick 1-0, despite Ben Sollows (Moncton, NB) one-hit, complete game effort. The lone Ontario run came in the top of the first inning. Also, it took 12 innings for Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia to settle this one, with Newfoundland taking it in the end 3-2. Newfoundland broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 12th inning by scoring a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Nova Scotia responded by scoring one run in the bottom half of the inning but that is all they would get as they would leave two runners stranded in the final frame. In the rest of the day’s action, Alberta would win big twice by defeating Saskatchewan 13-1 and Halifax 12-0. Both games were decided by the 10-run mercy rule. Ontario also moved to 2-0 with a win over Prince Edward Island 11-0. PEI did however put one in the win column, beating Halifax 6-1 earlier in the day. Québec and Nova Scotia also finished with a split today, with Nova Scotia defeating Québec by a score of 2-1 in each their second game of the day. Sitting undefeated so far along with Ontario and Alberta is Manitoba, who is at 1-0 after a 10-0 win over Newfoundland & Labrador. In the Bantam Girls Championship, taking place in Mascouche, Québec; the weather cooperated long enough so that four games could be completed, with an excellent pitching duel to finish off the day. It was 0-0 going into the top of the seventh inning between British Columbia and Saskatchewan when BC scored four runs in the inning and would hold on for the 4-0 win. Katie Wallace (Nanaimo, BC) hit a two-run single in the seventh to bring in BC’s third and fourth runs. She was 2-for-4 in the game. Shayla Shahsavar (Saskatoon, SK) was outstanding in a losing cause, throwing the complete game and allowing the four runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk. Shahsavar would also collect an impressive 13 strikeouts. In other Bantam Girls action, Québec made easy work of Nova Scotia, winning 11-1. It was a similar story between Ontario and Manitoba with Ontario taking it 15-5 and Lanaudiere would defeat Alberta by a score of 9-3. Click here for complete National Championships coverage.
DURHAM, N.C. – The Canadian Olympic Team played a four game exhibition series against the United States this past August 1-4. Canada would finish the series with a 1-3 record. Canada would win the first game by a score of 4-3 on Scott Thorman’s (Cambridge, ON) two-out double in the top of the tenth at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Once the series moved to Durham, N.C. the series shifted on the side of the U.S. as they would win three in a row by scores of 7-2, 9-1 and 17-5. The last game was a seven inning 10-run-rule shortened game. For box scores and recaps of each game, click here Canada will begin it's Olympic Schedule on August 13, opening against the host country China.
EDMONTON – At the conclusion of the World Junior Championship, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) unveiled the tournament’s award winners and All-Star team and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) brought home a lot of hardware. Lawrie was awarded the Top Hitter Award with his .469 average for the tournament. He was also awarded the Most Home Runs Award with three and the Most RBI Award with 16. He was also named the catcher for the World All-Star team. “We played well as a team the whole tournament,” says Lawrie. “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t achieve what we wanted to coming here, but I’m very proud of the way the team played during the tournament.” Joining Lawrie on the World All-Star team is Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) as an outfielder. Crouse hit .312 with two doubles, one triple and five RBI in the tournament and fielded his position exceptionally, committing no errors with 12 putouts.
EDMONTON – In the end, the Junior National Team simply ran out of options and nothing seemed to go their way as they would fall at the hands of Chinese Taipei by a score of 11-4 in the fifth place game at the World Junior Championship. The Canadians were short on pitchers going into this one as all their pitchers would be working on short rest. It started off well for Canada as they would open the scoring in the first inning on a RBI single from Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) to score Lionel Morrill (Edmonton, AB) and give Canada the 1-0 lead. That would basically be one of few high points for the Canadians in this matchup. Chinese Taipei would get to Canadian starter François Lafreniere (St. Bruno, QC) in the fourth inning on back-to-back solo home runs from Yu-Hseng Chen and Fu-Lin Kuo. Taipei would add another run in the inning to take a 3-1 lead. Then Taipei would blow it open in fifth inning scoring five runs in the frame on five straight singles and a double to put them ahead 8-1. Canada would start clawing back in the sixth inning on the two-run double from Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) to bring in Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) and Crouse and cut the lead to 8-3. But that is as close as the Canadians would get in this game as Taipei would add another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to put it away. Canada would add one more run in the ninth inning on the RBI double from Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC). “They found so many holes today that there wasn’t much we could do. They hit the ball well,” says Lawrie, who was 3-for-4 in this game. “Hats off to them, they swung the bats well today.” “Sixth place isn’t the result you want. We were down on our pitching and it makes it tough when you don’t have healthy arms,” says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. “We were in tough today. They swung the bats well and we didn’t have a whole lot of answers, but I don’t want to take it away from them. They swung the bats well and they deserved to win,” Canada finishes the World Junior Championship with a 5-3 record. The margin for error in this type of tournament is very small and unfortunately for the Juniors, a championship was not meant to be this time around. “In the end, we lost a 2-1 game to Australia which could’ve completely changed the complexion of how things finished,” says Hamilton. “If the 2-1 ballgame goes the other way, you never know, but that’s what it is. It’s a small margin in this game from being at the ultimate level of success to being sixth.” The process begins again this coming fall as the Junior National Team will reconvene in Orlando for the Fall Instructional Camp at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex this October. From there a new team will be chosen to complete the quest for gold at the 2010 World Junior Championship, which will be in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
EDMONTON – The Junior National Team brought in six runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind and beat Puerto Rico by a score of 9-6. The Juniors came into the frame trailing 6-3 after Puerto Rico broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning by scoring three runs. However, Canada would tie it up with one swing of the bat as Carter Morrison (Langley, BC) hit a three-run home run to bring the Juniors back to even. “I was just working the count and got it to 3-1 when he threw me a fastball inside, which I had been waiting for all night and I turned on it,” says Morrison of his home run. Canada would then load the bases for Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC), who would draw the walk to drive in the winning run for the Canadians. Jonathan Gilbert (St-Georges, QC) would hit a RBI single and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly to put Canada ahead by three. From there, Mike Monster (Kelowna, BC) went to the mound to close things out and got Jan Vazquez to strikeout for the final out and seal the victory. “These are not easy games when your goals and objectives go out the window the night before,” says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. “Even though you’re only playing for placement, it does make a difference and it does matter and I’m glad to see we were able to dig deep in the end and win that.” Lost in the big ninth inning by the Canadians was the performance of starting pitcher Evan Grills (Whitby, ON), who would go seven strong innings, allowing three runs on three hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. “I was just trying to throw strikes and get ahead of batters,” says Grills. “I wanted to use my defense so I was a bit surprised by the number of strikeouts tonight.” Puerto Rico opened the scoring in the second inning when a pair of Canadian errors would allow a run to score and give Puerto Rico a 1-0 lead. Canada would immediately respond in the top of the third on a RBI single from Brett Lawrie to drive in James Kottaras (Markham, ON) and tie things up at 1-1. Canada would add two more in the top of the fourth inning on a RBI double from Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) and a RBI from Kottaras and put the Juniors ahead by two. Puerto Rico would make things interesting by scoring one run in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to tie up the game and setup the late inning dramatics. Next up for the Junior National Team will be Chinese Taipei, who beat Mexico 1-0 earlier in the day. They will face off to see who will finish in fifth place. Game time is at 10:00 am in St. Albert.
EDMONTON – In what was predicted to be an even matchup, the fans in the stands got to see exactly that. However the Junior National Team would get the short end of the stick and fell just short as Australia would get an upset victory over Canada by a score of 2-1 in the quarter-final of the World Junior Championship. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Canadians rallied to load the bases, beginning with Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) reaching on an error. Follow that up with a single from Carter Bell (Courtenay, BC) and a walk to Carter Morrison (Langley, BC) and that would bring Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) to the plate with a chance to win it for Canada. With the count one ball and two strikes on Willson, the pitch from Aussie reliever Jarryd Sullivan seemed to have struck Willson in the shin, which would have brought in the tying run. However the home plate umpire disagreed and Willson would eventually strikeout swinging to end the ballgame. “I told the umpire that the ball hit me, but he said it didn’t,” says Willson. “There not much else you can do after that. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be called out on a questionable call and I ended up swinging over a pitch that dropped down.” It was a tight battle throughout as both starting pitchers would go deep into the game give very little. Stosh Wawrzasek (Langley, BC) got the start on the mound for Canada and went six and a third strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, one walk and four strikeouts. It was a similar line for Aussie starter Justin Erasmus as he would go seven innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Australia opened the scoring in the fourth inning, scoring a pair on a single and a sacrifice fly to take the lead 2-0. Canada responded in the sixth inning when James Kottaras (Markham, ON) came in to score on the sacrifice fly from Lionel Morrill (Edmonton, AB) to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately, that is as close as the Juniors would get. “They played a good game against us,” says Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC). “We lost as a team today, there’s no doubt about it. It was their game today and there’s no tomorrow in this tournament, so we just have to keep our heads up high and go after it again tomorrow.” “Sometimes in life you play for pride and that’s what we have to do,” says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. “We came in here trying to win a medal and we thought we had a legitimate team to do it. We still do, but sometime it doesn’t go your way in a 2-1 game and now we have to go out and finish as high as we can and maintain the respect and pride we have in our program.” The Junior National Team will begin their quest to finish in the fifth spot starting on Saturday, August 2 against Puerto Rico. Game time is at 7:00 pm at John Fry Park.
EDMONTON – This one was never in doubt as the Junior National Team made quick work of the Czech Republic, winning by a score of 25-1 in seven innings at the World Junior Championship. The Canadians pounded out 23 hits as everyone in the lineup would get at least one hit, including five home runs from five different players. The flood gates were opened early as Canada would score seven runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by Brett Lawrie’s (Langley, BC) three-run homer and James Kottaras’ (Markham, ON) RBI triple. The Juniors added one run in the second inning on Kottaras’ second RBI of the game to score Carter Bell (Courtenay, BC). Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON), who was a triple short of the cycle, hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to put Canada ahead by ten. “In games like this, you just want to make sure you don’t do anything crazy,” says Willson, who was 5-for-5 with six RBI. The Czech Republic scored their only run of the game in the bottom half of the fourth, when Mates Hejma went deep off of Canadian starter François Lafreniere (St. Bruno, QC). That would be the only blemish of Lafreniere’s day as the right-hander would throw the complete game, allowing the one run on four hits, one walk and 12 strikeouts. “I knew that I couldn’t take these guys lightly,” says Lafreniere. “I just had to go out there and throw strikes and that’s what I did and it went well.” The Canadians kept their foot on the gas as they would add another five runs in the fifth inning, featuring a pair of home runs, one from Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC) and one from Jonathan Gilbert (St-Georges, QC). Then Canada would put 10 more runs on the board in the sixth inning. The Juniors would collect eight hits in the frame, including a grand-slam home run from Marcus Knecht (Toronto, ON). “We did a good job offensively today, in that we didn’t try to pull off pitches,” says JNT coach Les MacTavish. “(Lafreniere) did a tremendous job on the mound today and I think that was the key to the ball game. We were able to save our arms and now we’ll be fresh and healthy for the playoffs.” Canada will open the playoffs against Australia on Friday, August 1. The Canadians can expect a far tougher test against the Aussies than they did today. “We just need to worry about ourselves and play our game,” says MacTavish. “We’ve got balance up and down our lineup and we’ve got arms that can keep you honest and I think if we play our game we have a great chance to be successful.” The quarter-final matchup between Canada and Australia is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Telus Field.
EDMONTON – The Junior National Team’s matchup with the Czech Republic slated for today in St. Albert at the World Junior Championship has been postponed due to rain and will be made up on Thursday, July 31st at a time and location yet to be determined. Two early games today were completed without any delays. Australia defeated Russia 8-0 and Mexico took care the Netherlands by a score of 8-3. Once the remaining games are played tomorrow, the playoff picture will be set and Canada will start its quarter-final matchup with their pool A opponent on Friday, August1st.
