ORLANDO, Florida-Roberto Suppa (Palgrave, ON) gave the Junior National Team an excellent start but it wasn’t enough as his team eventually fell to the Atlanta Braves 12-3.
Suppa tossed three shutout innings, giving up only two hits, one walk while striking out one batter.
In the fourth the Braves got on the board with their first run of the game which set off a string of scoring in four straight innings for them.
In the sixth, the Braves struck for five runs including a grand slam with two outs in the inning to increase their lead to 9-0.
The JNT fought back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs of their own. Daniel Peakman (Victoria, BC) singled with one out and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
Later on in the frame, Damion Smith (Windsor, ON) walked while Jordan Procyshen (Calgary, AB) and Brendan Hendricks (Cochrane, AB) contributed singles. After a Braves error, both Smith and Procyshen crossed home plate to give the JNT their second and third runs of the inning.
Ethan Elias (Entwistle, AB) gave up three runs in the seventh before shutting down the Braves offence with perfect eighth and ninth innings.
Elias finished the game pitching 3 2/3 innings while giving up five runs (three earned) on three hits, walking two and striking out two batters.
The JNT will get back to action on October 22nd with a 1pm ET re-match against the Atlanta Braves at Disney’s Wide World of Sports…Anthony Buonaiuto (Toronto, ON) will start for the JNT.
Notes: The Junior National Team is made up of some of the top under 18 baseball players in Canada. Each fall the team travels to Orlando to compete against professional players in the Fall Instructional League. For more information on the Junior National Team program, please click here
