CANADA 17-10 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
PANAMA CITY, Panama — The Canadian Junior National Team continued their undefeated streak at the U-18 Pan American Championship with a commanding 17-10 victory over the Dominican Republic in their fourth game of the group phase.
Canada wasted no time in setting the tone for the game. Leo Cote (Ayer's Cliff, QC) got things rolling with a two-run double to right field, scoring Eric Hartman (St. Albert, AB) and Ryan Stalony (Toronto, ON). The Canadian offense didn’t stop there, Tommy Hanger (Toronto, ON) and Owen Gregg (Toronto, ON) each added RBIs, capitalizing on a series of Dominican pitching errors and wild pitches to bring the score to 5-0 by the end of the first inning.
Canadian starter Tate Carey (Windsor, ON) ran into trouble in the second inning, with the Dominican Republic manufacturing a couple of runs to trim Canada’s lead to 5-2. The Dominican Republic would strike again in the third until Max Poirier (Nanaimo, BC) came in from the bullpen and stranded three to stop the bleeding, with the ballgame tied at five, moving into the middle innings.
The fourth inning saw Canada extend their lead once more with Stalony’s second double of the game followed by a Cote 2-RBI single, making it 7-5. They both scored two runs and drove in three for Canada in the game.
The Dominican Republic would come right back and score four in the bottom of the fourth to make it 9-7, leaving the Junior National Team trailing for the first time in the ballgame.
Both teams would trade a run in the fifth to make the score 10-8. However, the Canadians would hit around in the sixth, scoring six runs in the inning, propelled by a couple of singles from the Canadian middle infielders Owen Gregg (Oakville, ON) and Tommy Hanger (Toronto, ON).
The Canadians would add three more in the seventh to reach our final 17-10 score. Aiden Taggart (Grimsby, ON) tossed the last two innings for the Juniors, permitting no hits and a walk while striking out one to lock in the victory.
Looking Ahead
With this decisive win, Canada improves to 4-0 in the tournament, officially punching their ticket to the next round. The clinch won’t mean much to the Canadians, who will face Cuba in their next game on August 7th in a game that will determine the first-place team of Group A.
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