James Paxton (Delta, B.C.), Leslie Williams (Scarborough, Ont.) and Drew Parker (Surrey, B.C.) combined for a one-hitter in a 5-3 win over Panama, today, in quarter final action at the World Junior AAA Championships in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.
Paxton, who started the game for Canada, no-hit Panama over the first 2.1 innings of work before being replaced by Williams. Williams was tagged for two earned runs after allowing four of 11 walks handed out by Canadian pitchers and the lone Panamanian hit – an RBI single from lead-off man Ruben Tehada that cut the Canadian lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning.
However, Parker earned the win in relief by no-hitting Panama and striking out five hitters over the final 5.1 innings and send Canada to a semi-final match-up against Korea, tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST.
First baseman Kyle Orr (Victoria, B.C.,) helped Canada jump out to an early 5-0 lead as Canada scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the third. Orr was 1-for-2 with a homerun, 3 RBI and 1 run scored. Shayne Willson (Surrey, B.C.) was 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored, Jonathan Waltenbury (Bowmanville, Ont.) was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, Jordan Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) was 2-for-3 with 1 RBI and Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Canada now has its sights set on Korea for tomorrow’s semi-final match-up. Despite collecting only two base hits, Korea beat Chinese Taipei 1-0 yesterday to earn the right to face Canada.
On the other side of the bracket, the United States upset the host Cuban squad to draw Mexico in the other semi-final. Mexico beat the Netherlands 5-3 to keep their hopes alive. The match-up will be the second of the tournament between the two teams after Mexico surprised the U.S. 3-0 on the second day of the Championship.
Box Score
