Juniors remain unbeaten with win over Dominican Republic at U18 Pan Am Championship
Leo Cote (Ayer's Cliff, Que.) went 3-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs to help the Junior National Team to a 17-10 win over the Dominican Republic at the U18 Pan American Championship on Tuesday. Photo: Baseball Canada
August 6, 2024
Baseball Canada
PANAMA CITY, Panama — The Canadian Junior National Team continued their undefeated streak at the U18 Pan American Championship with a commanding 17-10 victory over the Dominican Republic in their fourth game of the group phase.
Canada’s offence got on the board early, scoring five runs in the first inning.
Leo Cote (Ayer's Cliff, Que.) got things rolling with a two-run double to right field that scored Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) and Ryan Stalony (Toronto, Ont.). Tommy Hanger (Toronto, Ont.) and Owen Gregg (Toronto, Ont.) then each added RBIs, capitalizing on a series of Dominican pitching errors and wild pitches to increase the score to 5-0.
On the mound, Canadian starter Tate Carey (Windsor, Ont.) ran into trouble in the second inning when the Dominican Republic manufactured two runs to trim Canada’s lead to 5-2.
The Dominican Republic added three more in the third and Carey was replaced by Max Poirier (Nanaimo, B.C.), who came in and stranded three runners to keep the game tied 5-5.
The fourth inning saw Canada regain the lead with Stalony’s second double of the game followed by a Cote two-RBI single, which made it 7-5. Stalony and Cote both scored two runs and drove in three in the game.
The Dominican Republic would come right back and score four in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-7 lead.
Both teams would trade a run in the fifth to make the score 10-8.
However, the Canadians batted around in the sixth, scoring six runs, propelled by singles from Gregg and Hanger.
The Canadians would add three more in the seventh to make it 17-10.
Aiden Taggart (Grimsby, Ont.) closed out the game for Canada, allowing one run, while striking out three, in three innings, to pick up the win.
Looking Ahead
With the win, Canada improved to 4-0 in the tournament and officially punched their ticket to the next round. The Juniors will face Cuba on Wednesday in a game that will determine the first-place team of Group A.