MATANZAS, Cuba- It was a long day at the ballpark for the Junior National Team as three games were completed today with a total of 17 1/3 innings played as the Cuba Summer Series entered the home stretch. Weather delays over the past three days caused the schedule to be altered in order to complete the eight game series.
Due to field availability the series shifted to Estadio Palmar de Junco, which held the first ever recorded baseball game in Cuba on December 27th, 1874. Yes…1874. The game featured a group of United States Marines taking on a group of Cuban locals.
Here is a recap of the day’s action that included extra innings, some intense international baseball and, of course, a little bit of controversy:
Game 5: Canada 9 Cuba 6
It took three days to complete game five of the Cuba Summer Series, but when it finally finished the Junior National Team had their first win of the series with a 9-6 win.
Zach Pop (Brampton, ON) took the mound when play resumed in the bottom of the eighth with runners on first and second, two out and a two and two count on the batter. It only took one pitch to record the third out as Pop got a groundout to second to end the frame.
In the bottom of the ninth, Pop allowed a leadoff single but got a fielder’s choice out and a 3-6-3 double play to end the game.
Game 6: Cuba 7 Canada 1
Cuba overcame a one run deficit in the fifth scoring two runs and added four in the sixth that led to a 7-1 victory over the Junior National Team in a game that featured some controversy.
The controversy started in the fifth with the score 1-1 and reliever Brad Smith (Vancouver, BC) on the mound with runners on the corners. The second base umpire on an attempted pick-off at first base called Smith for a balk that brought in one run and put the runner from first on second base. Manager Greg Hamilton came out to argue and managed to get the call reversed, which put the Cuban dugout in an uproar. After about a ten-minute delay, the balk call was reversed, but the run scored and the runner from first remained on second as Smith’s throw while the balk call was being made sailed past first baseman Josh Naylor. Safe to say, there was some confusion among all parties involved.
Cuba then used the momentum to score four more runs in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead. After being called for another balk with a runner on first, Smith was touched up for a pair of RBI singles and unleashed two wild pitches with runs scoring each time. RJ Freure (Burlington, ON) came into the game and was able to get out of the inning on a pair of fly-outs and a groundout to third.
Cuba added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice-fly after Freure gave-up a pair of singles with a groundout mixed in between.
Back in the second inning, Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, ON) drilled a solo home run to get the juniors on the scoreboard with one out. The ball cleared the wall in right-centre and the wall beyond landing on the streets of Mantanzas.
Starter Zach Pop, who finished the previous game, got the job done for four innings working his way out of trouble in each frame.
Pop got a key double play ball in the second inning and got a groundout to end the third after issuing two walks.
In the fourth, after hitting a batter and allowing his first hit of the game, Pop received some solid defence as Mitch Robinson fielded a bunt and alertly threw to shortstop Charles Leblanc (Laval, QC) who was covering third.
Pop finished his outing allowing no runs and only one hit. He walked five, hit one batter and struck out two.
Game 7: Canada 5 Cuba 4 (9 innings)
The Junior National Team scored four runs in the top of the ninth and held off a Cuban comeback in the bottom of the inning to secure their second win of the day and pick-up their second win of the Cuba Summer Series.
The game featured two extra innings as it was originally planned for only seven innings. In extras, the International Baseball Federation extra-innings rule was used that placed runners on first and second base to begin the inning.
JNT starter JP Stevenson (Hunter River, PE) and Cuba’s Cionel Perez were locked into a pitchers duel as both starters went eight innings only giving up one run each.
Perez struck out 14 and had a chance to close out a complete game in the seventh but balked in the tying run with LP Pelletier (Montréal, QC) on third base to even the score at one.
Stevenson went tot-to-toe with Perez fanning seven through eight innings to keep his side in the game.
The Cubans had taken a 1-0 lead in the sixth on a double to right-centre that saw a runner from first base score on the play.
Extra innings provided the most dramatic events however as both teams
failed to score a run in the eighth.
In the home half of the inning, Stevenson threw over to second base three times trying to pick-off the runner and on the third attempt his throw sailed into centre field. With the Cuban runner taking off for third base, centre fielder Demi Orimoloye fired a seed to third base to put the runner out. After an intentional walk to set up a force play at all bases, Stevenson came back and struck out the next two hitters to get out of the inning.
In the ninth, Mitch Bigras (Sarnia, ON) laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance the runners and Demi Orimoloye was intentionally walked to set up a force play around the diamond, but that was quickly erased when a passed ball allowed Josh Naylor to scamper home with the go ahead run.
After Tristan Clarke (Brampton, ON) singled through the left side to score two runs, Darren Shred (Brampton, ON) added a RBI single of his own and the juniors found themselves out in front by four.
The Cubans would not go away quietly, as a base hit to right field was misplayed by Clarke who then threw wildly to third allowing both Cuban runners to score.
Kyle Ross (Maple Ridge, BC) had taken over for Stevenson, but after he issued a walk was removed from the game in favour of Colton Wood (Victoria, BC).
Wood was able to calm things down fielding a sacrifice bunt and throwing to first for out number one, before getting a fly-out to right field and pop-out to second base to end the game.
Up Next: The series finale is scheduled for tomorrow at 9am ET with a nine inning game at Palmer de Junco Stadium in Matanzas…LHP Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) is scheduled to start…Live game tweets will be available via Baseball Canada’s Twitter account, @baseballcanada. Daily game stories will be posted after each game on Baseball Canada’s official website, baseball.ca.
Cuba Summer Series schedule/results:
0704 Canada 4 Cuba 11
0705 Cuba 5 Canada 2
0705 Canada 0 Cuba 6
0706 Cuba 11 Canada 1
0709 Canada 9 Cuba 6
0709 Cuba 7 Canada 1
0709 Canada 5 Cuba 4
0710 9am EST
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