OTTAWA – Today marked the beginning of a busy weekend of baseball ahead in the province of Québec. The Junior tournament kicked off in Trois-Rivières while the Midget tournament began play in Québec City. Here is a recap of the games currently completed on Day 1. Junior Championship Manitoba 11 New Brunswick 4 Manitoba started the tournament on a winning note with a decisive 11-4 victory over New Brunswick. Its offense needed no warm-up, pounding out 16 hits contributing to the 11 runs. Shortstop Elliot Desilets (Elie, MB) scored four runs and fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle to lead the Manitoba attack. Jeff McCarthy (Mirimachi, NB) led New Brunswick with two RBI. Nova Scotia 3 Ontario (2) 1 Tied 1-1 heading into the last inning, Nova Scotia pulled away with two runs and then held on to defeat Ontario 2 by a 3-1 margin. Leadoff hitter Codey Shrider (Dartmouth, NS) was the difference maker in this game as he delivered two hits and drove in two runs. Pitchers Brandon MacKinnon (Cole Harbour, NS) and Eric Carducci (Tecumseh, ON) were tremendous for their respective teams as they both threw complete games. Ontario (1) 14 Manitoba 4 Trailing 3-0 before even getting an at-bat, Ontario turned up the heat to smack out 14 runs in a 14-4 triumph over Manitoba. Larry Balkwill (Chatham, ON) had a big game for his team, going a perfect 3/3 at the plate with three RBI and four runs scored. Mark Hildebrand (Winkler, MB) had two hits and two runs scored for Manitoba.
