OTTAWA- Vaughan got things going at the Bantam Boys championship in their own backyard by pounding Alberta 10-2 in the tournaments opening game. The host club smashed out fourteen hits, two of which came from Darien Dalton (Newmarket, ON) who scored two runs and also recorded two RBI. With Vaughan holding a 3-0 lead in the 5th inning they completely took control of the game by scoring five runs. Alexander Paglia (Woodbridge, ON) would start things off by hitting a bases loaded single that would score two runs. Paglia and Tyler Nakamura (Concord, ON) would later score on a Dalton triple and he scored on a Ryan Grant (Mississauga, ON) single. Shayne Rajadurai (Oak Ridge, ON) and Junya Ashima (Richmond Hill, ON) combined to limit Alberta to three hits and struck out seven batters. Layne Currie (Calgary, AB) had two hits for Alberta in a losing cause.
In a game where Saskatchewan and Québec combined for twenty-three hits, Saskatchewan came out on top 7-4. Kade Erickson (Regina, SK) scored a run and had three hits for Saskatchewan while Moises Perez (Lasalle, QC) also had three hits and scored a run for Québec.
J.G. Weeks (Cole Harbour, NS) was 2-for-3 with three RBI as Nova Scotia defeated Newfoundland 9-3.
In a wild one, BC eventually game out top 16-13 over Manitoba. Mitchell Robinson (Surrey, BC) was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. For Manitoba, Derek Millar (Oak Bluff, MB) was 3-for-4 with four RBI.
Bantam Girls
In Richmond, BC at the Bantam Girls championship, Nova Scotia used a five run 3rd inning to eventually beat Saskatchewan 8-6. Mackenzie Wright (Sackville, NS) highlighted the inning with a bases clearing double to give her team a healthy lead. Wright also pitched a complete game for Nova Scotia where she struck out seven Saskatchewan batters. Lacy Jurke (Maidstone, SK) had two hits and an RBI for Saskatchewan who scored two runs in the 7th inning to come within two runs, but were unable to score any more runs.
Senior Men
Rain interrupted one game and delayed a slew of others on the opening day of the Senior Men’s championship in Dartmouth, NS.
Once play resumed, Newfoundland broke a scoreless tie in the 5th inning by scoring two runs and hung on to defeat Manitoba 2-1. Bobby Kent (St. John’s, NF) was the winning pitcher as he struck out seven batters in 6 2/3 innings pitched. In the 5th Bernie Madden (St. John’s, NF) scored on a wild-pitch and Steve Crouse (St. John’s, NF) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Andrew Symonds (St. John’s, NF) to give Newfoundland a 2-0 lead. Manitoba fought back in 7th inning and scored a run on a Garrett Popplestone (Brandon, MB) single with two outs before loading the bases only to see Greg Barry (St. John’s, NF) strike out the final batter to end the game.
Notes: There will be another update on www.baseball.ca later on this evening. Fans can follow all of the action from all National Championships live, courtesy of Pointstreak by visiting: http://baseballcanada.bbstats.pointstreak.com/scoreboard.html?leagueid=110&seasonid=373
