Baseball Canada’s National Junior Team prospects closed out their 2006 Dominican Republic Tour with a 5-5 draw in 10 innings, Thursday, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
After Philadelphia scored a pair of runs behind two base hits and a double in the bottom of the ninth, both teams were held scoreless in the tenth and the exhibition game was declared a tie.
After the teams exchanged runs in the first two innings, Canada took three-run lead into the fifth. Kyle Gilligan (Toronto, Ont.) reached on an error and promptly stole second. Tyson Gillies (Langley, B.C.) then tripled to score Gilligan and was cashed in himself by a single from the bat of Chase Larsson (Vancouver, B.C.) for a 4-1 Canadian advantage.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Philadelphia scored a pair of markers thanks to three consecutive singles off of Canadian reliever Jean-Francois Ricard (Saint Eustache, Qué.) to cut the lead to one run. Gillies scored on a ground out from Shayne Willson (Surrey, B.C.) in the eighth, setting up the Phillies ninth that would tie the game for good.
Six Canadian pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts:
Michael Goemans (Guelph, Ont.) – 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO
Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Qué.) – 2 IP, 0 H, 0R, 3 SO
Jean-François Ricard – 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 SO
Cameron Gray (Toronto, Ont.) – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Matt Jebb (Toronto, Ont.) – 1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO
David Francis (Mississauga, Ont.) – 1 .2 IP, 0H, 0R, 3 SO
Gillies led the charge offensively, going 3-for-4 with three hits, one walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was also 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Larsson was 2-for-5 with one run scored and an RBI and Willson was 1-for-3 with one walk, one run scored and one RBI.
Ricky Alvernaz (White Rock, B.C.) and Jeff Skelhorne-Gross had one hit each for the Canadians.
The National Junior Team prospects will now turn their attention to their final training camp and exhibition series against the Cuban Junior National Team from Sept. 8 to September 16. The training camp will be used by Team Canada staff as the fourth and final step in the selection process for the roster of players to represent Canada at the 2006 World Junior AAA Championships in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba from Sept. 17 to 27.
Canada’s Dominican Tour Results
May 25 – Canada 9 Seattle 6
May 26 – Canada 3 Seattle 8
May 27 – Canada 3 Minnesota 6
May 28 – Canada 5 Anaheim 4
May 29 – Canada 17 Cleveland 5
May 30 – Canada 11 Cleveland 12
May 31 – Canada 3 Toronto 12
June 1 – Canada 5 Philadelphia 5
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