ORLANDO-The Atlanta Braves Instructional League club broke a 4-4 tie with a run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Junior National Team 5-4.
The loss for the JNT came in the opening game of the Fall Instructional League camp which runs until October 21st.
The juniors received a solid effort on the mound from starter Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, ON) who tossed three, no-hit innings and struck out three batters. Seabrooke allowed one run to score in the second inning and walked two batters.
The offence was paced by Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) who accounted for two of the junior's four hits on the day. Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) and Jamar Burnette (Toronto, ON) had the others.
The Braves broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the bottom of the sixth that came off reliever Blake Weston (Oakville, ON). Weston threw 2 1/3 innings and gave-up three runs on seven hits, while fanning three batters.
The juniors stormed back to tie the game in the top of the seventh when Gareth Morgan , Nolan Bumstead (Calgary, AB) and John-Anthony Lantigua (Boischatel, QC) all scored.
The winning run scored in the bottom of the ninth off Daniel Procopio (Toronto, ON) who had an impressive JNT debut as he struck out four, while allowing one run and two hits in two innings of work.
Notes: The juniors will play a five-inning inter-squad game tomorrow at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando beginning at 1pm ET…On Monday, also at 1pm ET, the juniors will get a re-match with the Braves where Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) will get the start on the mound.
