LOWELL, MA- Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, ON) blasted a two-run home run as part of a five run first inning and the Junior National Team never looked back as they thumped the Boston Selects 16-5 to move to 2-0 on the New England Summer Tour.
Chris Thibideau (Dartmouth, NS) and Jake Lumley (Windsor, ON) helped pace the offence, from the top of the order, as they combined for six hits (four singles, a double and a triple), five runs, five RBI and a stolen base.
Toby Handley (Whitby, ON) contributed with an RBI triple in the third, while Owen Spiwak (Mississauga, ON) and Morgan Lofstrom (Kelowna, BC) each had a single and two RBI.
Connor Noble (Vancouver, BC) picked up the win tossing four innings allowing only one run, while Matthew Lloyd (Okotoks, AB) threw two shutout innings.
In total, the juniors pounded out 14 hits and scored runs in four out of the first five innings to take command of the game early on.
With one out in the first, Jake Lumley doubled to right field and scored when a ground ball from Toby Handley was misplayed by the first baseman and rolled into right field.
After Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) walked, the juniors pulled off a double steal and Owen Spiwak scored Handley with an RBI single, while Naylor scored on a wild-pitch.
Spiwak came around to score when Demi Orimoloye belted a fastball well over the wall in left field for a two-run homer.
Starter Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) worked his way out of trouble in the first getting a strikeout and groundout after the Selects put runners on second and third with only one out.
Onyshko wasn’t as fortunate in the second as the Selects put four runs across to cut their deficit to three.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out before a fielder’s choice brought in a run to get the Selects on the board.
A hit batter loaded the bases once again and a passed ball brought in another run before an RBI ground out and run scoring single counted for two more runs.
Orimoloye almost had his second big fly of the game in the third when he drilled a pitch off the wall in left, but was left with a single as the left fielder got the ball into the infield quickly keeping Owen Spiwak on second.
Both runners came into score on Morgan Loftstrom’s RBI single and later, Chris Thibideau tripled to score two as part of a six run inning.
Connor Noble took over on the mound in the fourth and gave up a walk and single to start the frame before a strikeout and double play ended the threat.
The juniors added to their lead in the fifth with a three run inning that saw all the runs coming into count with two out.
With the bases loaded, Josh Naylor struck out, but ran to first base safely after the ball got behind the catcher which allowed Chris Thibideau to scamper home.
Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) was hit by a pitch and Owen Spiwak walked to bring in the other two runs.
Noble’s only blemish came in the sixth when he walked a batter and unloaded a wild pitch before an RBI double scored the fifth Selects run of the game.
Noble ended up tossing four innings and gave up only two hits, while fanning five batters.
Matt Lloyd came on for the eighth and ninth innings and faced only six batters as he gave up a one-out single in the eighth, but got a double play to end the frame.
Lloyd fanned all three batters he faced in the ninth.
Notes: The juniors will travel to Torrington, CT tomorrow morning and take on the Torrington Titans of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League at 7pm ET…Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) is scheduled to start for the JNT…Please follow @baseballcanada and @team_c_updates on Twitter to stay up-to-date on all the news and in game updates with the Junior National Team while in New England.
