OTTAWA – The semi-finals are set in two of the three Baseball Canada National Championships that are underway, while the third will have the matchups decided on Sunday, on route to crowning three more National Champions.
At the Baseball Canada Cup in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Ontario captured the top spot in Pool A putting up eight runs in the third inning on route to a 11-6 win over Québec. Eight of the nine hitters in the Ontario line-up got at least one hit in this game.
In Pool B, New Brunswick earned first place by virtue of their 10-3 win over Newfoundland & Labrador. Mike Washburn (Fredericton, NB) went 4-for-4 with three RBI to lead his team to the win. Ontario and New Brunswick will now face-off in semi-final number one.
By virtue of their 3-0 win over Saskatchewan, British Columbia solidified second place in Pool A and awaited the winner between Québec, who finished third in Pool A, and Alberta, who finished second in Pool B.
Québec would jump out to a 6-0 lead, including a four-run second inning highlighted by three RBI doubles from Jonathan Cyr (Montreal, QC), Samuel Domingue (Québec, QC) and Alexandre Béland (Trois-Rivières, QC).
Alberta would reduce the lead to one with a five-run fourth inning with the help of three-run triple from Scott Gerun (Westlock, AB) to make it 6-5.
After trading two-run innings in the sixth to make it 8-7 for Québec, Alberta had one final shot to extend this game, but Jonathan Paquet (Ancienne Lorette, QC) struck out the side in the seventh inning to preserve the win for Québec.
At the Bantam Boys Championship in Mascouche, Québec, British Columbia sealed their first place finish in Pool A with an unbelievable 36-1 slaughter of Newfoundland & Labrador. They scored an incredible 29 runs in the first inning in a game that lasted only three innings.
Ontario captured first place in Pool B with an 11-0 win over Nova Scotia. Now British Columbia and Ontario were awaiting their opponents in the semi-finals.
In the first quarter-final, Lanaudiere defeated Québec by a score to 4-1 to earn their spot in the semis, while Saskatchewan took out Manitoba 9-1 to earn a date with Ontario in the semi-finals.
At the Junior Championship in Charlottetown, PEI, only one spot in the semi-final has been decided as British Columbia earned first place in Pool B. Ontario and Québec 2 will be moving on to the semi-finals in Pool A, however their seeding is yet to be determined, and they will play each other on Sunday to determine first and second.
Second place in Pool B will be determined between Québec and Prince Edward Island, with an outside chance for Nova Scotia. It will all be sorted out on Sunday.
Click here for complete Baseball Canada National Championships coverage.
