Juniors lose to Orioles, Clavet, Flewelling, Kwinter, Polanco
From left to right: Okotoks Dawgs INF Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.), Terriers LHP Russell Kwinter (Toronto, Ont.) and ABC 2B Maxime Boies (Levis, Que.).
April 26, 2024
By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
The Junior National Team lost a slugfest against the Baltimore Orioles EXT 11-5 in the final road game of the extended spring training camp at Sarasota, Fla.
The Canadians scored five runs on 10 hits and committed three errors in the game.
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The Juniors took an early lead sparked by an Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) one-out triple in the top of the first. Hartman finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.
The O’s would even it at one, after a defensive miscue led to a run in the bottom half. Starter Russell Kwinter (Toronto, Ont.) allowed only three hits while striking out two over his three innings of work.
From left to right: Toronto Mets CF Dante Smith (Ajax, Ont.), ABC 3B Anthony Clavet (Quebec, Que.) and LF William Polanco (Laval, Que.). Photo: Baseball Canada
The Canadians would come right back with a run of their own in the top of the second as SS Owen Gregg (Oakville, Ont.) drove in 1B Leo Cote (Ayer’s Cliff, Que.) with a run-scoring fly ball to regain a 2-1 lead.
2B Maxime Boies (Levis, Que.) and OF Dante Smith (Ajax, Ont.) would add to the Canadian lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single and an RBI fielder’s choice, giving the Juniors their biggest lead of the game at 4-1.
The Orioles responded with three in the fifth, two in the sixth, three in the seventh, and two in the ninth to reach the 11-5 final score.
Anthony Clavet (Quebec, Que.), Nathan Flewelling (Red Deer, Alta.), and William Polanco (Laval, Que.) collected multi-hit games as they produced four of the five runs for the Junior National Team in the game.