ORLANDO- The extended Spring Training club of the Washington Nationals scored runs in three straight innings, including a four-run 6th to beat the Junior National Team, 9-1.
The Juniors took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st when Kyle Hann (Oakville, ON) scored from third base on a sac-fly from Justin Atkinson (Surrey, BC). Hann had led-off the inning with a single, advanced to second when Damion Smith (Windsor, ON) walked and took third on a wild-pitch.
Starting pitcher Clayton Isherwood (Van Anda, BC) had another impressive outing on the mound as he threw three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out one batter.
Isherwood worked his way out of trouble in the 3rd, when he managed to get two pop-outs with runners on first and second base and only one out.
Dayton Dawe (London, ON) came on for the 4th inning and allowed a one out single, where the runner was able to take second base on an error. The next batter promptly singled, scoring the runner from second and tying the score.
Things didn’t fare much better for Dawe in the 5th as two more runs scored when a walk and double was followed by a two-run single.
With the Nationals ahead 3-1 in the 6th, Logan Seifrit (Spruce Grove, AB) entered the game and walked the first batter he faced, before giving up a two-run homer to put the Nats up by four.
Washington would add two more runs in the 6th and another two runs in the 7th to take a commanding 9-1 lead.
In the 8th, the JNT had their best chance to make a comeback, but two strikeouts with the bases loaded put a stop to the threat. Justin Atkinson, Cory Scammell (Edmonton, AB) and Dustin Houle (Penticton, BC) each had a single in the inning.
Ethan Elias (Entwistle, AB) looked sharp in his second outing of camp after tossing two scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out two batters.
The JNT had seven hits in the game with Jordan Procyshen (Calgary, AB) and Kyle Hann having two apiece.
Notes: The JNT will face the Nationals again on Wednesday (April 27th) at 1pm ET in Orlando… Andrew Marra (Windsor, ON) is scheduled to start and throw three innings… The Spring Training Camp is an important step in the process as the JNT will attempt to qualify for the 2012 World Junior Baseball Championship (scheduled for Seoul, South Korea) at the Americas World Junior Qualification Tournament in Cartagena, Colombia from September 23rd - October 2nd, 2011… For more information on the JNT program, please click here.
