ORLANDO-The Washington Nationals used a six-run fourth inning and some solid pitching to defeat the Junior National Team 12-2 as spring training at ESPN Wide World of Sports continued.
The six-run fourth came as a result of four walks given up by reliever Dylan Brooks (Dorchester, ON) who also allowed five singles during the inning.
Starter Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) was solid on the mound through three innings for the juniors as he allowed only one run (unearned) on three hits.
The run came in the top of the first after a lead-off single stole second and third base before scoring on an error.
The juniors got the run back in the bottom of the second when Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) led-off with a single and came around to score on a double off the bat of Morgan Lofstrom (Kelowna, BC).
Lachlan Fontaine (North Vancouver, BC) also had a single in the inning.
With the score 7-1 in the fourth, Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) kept his hit streak alive when he doubled and later scored on a Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) RBI single.
O’Neill has hit safely in all five spring training games.
Brodie Harkness (Bowmanville, ON) took over for Brooks during the fifth and ended up pitching two and one-third innings giving up one run on one hit with one strikeout.
In the eighth Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, ON) picked up the juniors third double of the game, but was left stranded after two strikeouts ended the inning.
Orimoloye paced the offence with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
Reliever Christian Botter (Maple, ON) made his second appearance of the week and tossed a scoreless eighth inning before giving up two runs in the top of the ninth coming off a double and two singles.
Botter managed one strikeout in his two innings of work.
Notes: The juniors will wrap-up spring training tomorrow at 10am ET when they take on the Atlanta Braves at ESPN Wide World of Sports…Daniel Procopio (Toronto, ON) is expected to start.
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