CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico- After a lopsided loss to the United States yesterday, Canada got back on the winning track at the 18U Pan American Championship with a one-sided 15-3 win over Brazil in front of a few hundred fans at picturesque Estadio Los Cabos.
“We swung the bats, we threw strikes-we figure if we throw strikes our offence should take over in a lot of these games and it did tonight,” said Head Coach Greg Hamilton.
The offense accounted for 16 hits with five different players recording multi-hit games including catcher Luke Horanski (Dugald, MB) who drove in four runs with a 5-for-5 day that included two doubles and three singles.
“Luke’s a huge part of this team, he gives you an offensive piece, he gives you a presence behind the plate and he competes,” commented Hamilton. “ He had a great night (tonight) and he’s a real important leader on our club.”
Canada came out swinging scoring three times in the top of the first highlighted by a Mitch Robinson (Surrey, BC) two-run homer and rode solid performances by JP Stevenson (Hunter River, PE), Zach Pop (Brampton, ON) and Colton Wood (Victoria, BC) on the mound.
LP Pelletier (Montréal, QC) put the finishing touches on the Canadian offensive explosion with a grand slam homer in the bottom of the eighth.
The pesky Brazilians responded to Canada’s three runs in the top of the first with a run in the bottom half and after Matt Lloyd (Okotoks, AB) laced a double to left in the second and scored on a Charles Leblanc (Laval, QC) single, Brazil pushed another run across in the second.
Stevenson settled in after that at one point retiring ten batters in a row before he gave up a two-out single in the fifth.
Leading by four after five innings, Canada opened the floodgates in the sixth scoring four times with Horanski and Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) driving in runs on a single and ground rule double, respectively, while Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) drove in two lining a sharp single to right with runners on second and third.
Zach Pop entered the game in the sixth and gave-up one run on a pair of doubles before registering a strikeout and two groundouts in a perfect seventh.
Colton Wood came in for the eighth and ninth and struck out four to close the door on the victory for Canada.
“Our pitchers threw strikes and worked ahead, and for the most part overmatched their hitters,” explained Hamilton. “I was happy with the fact that we challenged hitters and made them swing the bats which allowed our offence to take over.”
Canada will face a quick turnaround against Ecuador tomorrow morning but only before a three-hour bus ride back to La Paz.
“It’s 10am tomorrow and we’ll be coming off a long bus ride, so if you’re ever right for the picking, it’s a game like tomorrow,” said Hamilton. “You’ve got to be ready, you never know, it’s a funny game.”
UP NEXT: Tomorrow’s game against Ecuador is set for 10am MDT/Noon EDT at Arturo C. Nahl Stadium in La Paz.
TUNE IN: All games played at Arturo C. Nahl Stadium in La Paz will be shown live on National TV in Mexico courtesy of Cable Sports TVC Deportes. People in Canada can access a live stream of the televised games by visiting: http://internetv.tv/browse.php?dia=2014-09-04&next=1
Live tweets for all of Team Canada’s games will be available by following @Team_C_Updates.
Useful links:
Tournament Website (Spanish)
Twitter: twitter.com/baseballcanada
Facebook: facebook.com/baseballcanada
Instagram: instagram.com/baseballcanada
