OTTAWA – In the final game of day one of the 2009 Baseball Canada Cup, Saskatchewan’s offence broke out for two big innings and Tyler McWhirter (Regina, SK) would settle down after a bumpy start to throw six solid innings in a 7-2 win over Manitoba.
Offensively for Saskatchewan, Dakota Fedak (Regina, SK) and Sean Flanagan (Kindersley, SK) both went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Fedak also scored a pair of runs in the ball game. Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) contributed with a two-RBI single.
Manitoba got to McWhirter early with a run in the first and one in the third for a 2-0 lead. But McWhirter would compose himself and go on to pitch six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
Saskatchewan would respond in the bottom of the third with three runs, including Leier’s two-run single to put Saskatchewan up 3-2.
Then they broke it open in the fourth with a four run outburst. Fedak hit an RBI triple while Flanagan drove in his two runs on a bases loaded double to increase their lead to 7-2.
In other action, Mike Ellis (Surrey, BC) threw 6-1/3 shutout innings allowing only two hits, four walks with four strikeouts on route to a 2-0 victory over Québec.
Steve McKinnon (Duncan, BC) drove in the winning run in the fourth on a RBI single, scoring Alex Calbick (Burnaby, BC). Adam Quan (Surrey, BC) scored the insurance run in the seventh; he was 2-for-2 with a double in the ball game.
The third game of the evening was another thumping for New Brunswick as this time they would fall to Ontario by a score of 11-0.
The Baseball Canada Cup will continue Thursday, August 6 with the first game of the day featuring Prince Edward Island taking on Alberta at 9 AM. Thursday also marks the start of the Junior National Championship in Trois-Rivières, Québec where Manitoba and Saskatchewan will kick things off at 8:30 AM.
