Ponce , Puerto Rico- Cuba received a two-out bases loaded double in the sixth inning that cleared the bases and they went on to defeat Canada 4-2. The loss evens Canada’s record at two wins and two losses with one first round game yet to play at the Pan Am qualification tournament.
“I told the guy’s I was proud of the way they played,” said Canadian Manger Ernie Whitt. “Nothing changes though; we still have to win tomorrow.”
Canada had opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Jamie Romak (London, ON) ripped a double that one-hopped the wall in left field scoring both Scott Thorman (Cambridge, ON) and Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC).
Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, QC) got the start for Canada and was dominant through five innings of work giving up one run on three hits and fanning an impressive seven batters.
“I felt really good out there,” said Aumont after the game. “I really focussed myself on getting ready for this game.”
Aumont certainly showed his focus early on as he sat down the first four batters he faced via the strikeout. The lone blemish on his night came in the fourth inning when he hit a batter followed by a double and a single with two out. On the single, one run scored and the second runner was tagged out at home plate on a throw from centre fielder Adam Stern (London, ON) to catcher Cole Armstrong (Surrey, BC) who applied the tag.
“I was very happy with the way Aumont threw the ball (tonight),” explained Whitt. “He threw strikes and he was able to get his breaking ball over for strikes. That’s a pretty good hitting ball club over there and when you throw like he did against them, that’s pretty awesome.”
Henry Mabee (Victoria, BC) came on to replace Aumont in the sixth and looked like he was going to get out of the inning when a would-be double play throw to first base was beaten out by the runner. The inning was kept alive and Cuba loaded the bases with two out which set the stage for the bases clearing double to give them the lead. The hit carried over Stern’s head in centre field and bounced off the wall before Stern could get the ball back to the infield.
Mabee went on to pitch a 1-2-3 seventh inning before giving way to Tom Boleska (Burlington, ON) who also retired the side in order, including two strikeouts in the eighth inning.
The game was a tightly contested battle with only eleven hits combined which saw Canada hold a slight edge with six of them. Romak led the way with two hits.
“They had a pretty good pitcher going too,” added Whitt. “We had chances to score but couldn’t get it done.”
In the ninth with Canada’s back against the wall Jimmy Van Ostrand (Richmond, BC) singled which brought Loewen to the plate who nailed a ball that looked as though it might have had a chance to leave the park, but the left fielder was able to camp under it just before the warning track in left field.
“The guy’s came out ready and we had a good game,” noted Aumont. “We had one bad inning, but that’s baseball.”
Notes: Canada’s next game will be on Wednesday October 6th against the Netherlands Antilles. The game time and location has been changed to 3pm ET at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan…Steve Green (Greenfield Park, QC) is expected to start for Canada…Fans can receive live updates from the game by following Baseball Canada on Twitter…Additional tournament coverage including standings, box scores and stats can be found at: http://premundial2010.prnbt.com/ and http://www.baseballdecuba.com/panamericano2010/index.html
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