AJAX, Ontario – The Canadian Men’s Baseball Team pounded out 13 hits including three home runs and received a solid pitching performance from starter Jared Mortensen (Abbottsford, BC) to beat Colombia 10-3.
Box Score - Canada 10 Colombia 3
The win moves Canada to 2-0 in the Pan American Games Men’s Baseball Competition with a match-up against Nicaragua (0-1) on deck for tomorrow.
"Our pitching and defense has been really good and we've come up with some really big hits when we've needed to,” said Canadian manager Ernie Whitt. “We're feeling really good right now. We’ve just got to continue to take it one game at a time."
Canada got things going in the second when Rene Tosoni (Port Coquitlam, BC) doubled to right and Sean Jamieson (Kitchener, ON) singled to third base to put runners on the corners. Tyson Gillies (Vancouver, BC) then stepped to the plate with two out and slammed a three run homer over the wall in centerfield.
Canada added a pair of runs in the fifth as Jordan Lennerton (Langley, BC) doubled to right field to score both Pete Orr (Newmarket, ON) and Tim Smith (Toronto, ON). Lennerton attempted to stretch the double into a triple on the play but was thrown out at third base on a well-executed Colombian relay.
Mortensen, meanwhile was locked in from the get go as he retired 17 of the 18 hitters he faced before allowing a solo home run with two out in the top of the sixth.
Colombia would go on to add two more runs in the seventh, courtesy of a two-run homer, but Mortensen finished strong getting a groundout and a pair of fly outs to end the inning. In total, the right-hander gave up just four hits and struck out five, while not walking anybody.
With two out in the seventh and Jordan Lennerton standing on first base, Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) sent a ball deep over the left field wall for a two-run homer to put Canada up by six.
Evan Rutckyj (Windsor, ON) took over for Mortensen in the eighth and tossed a scoreless frame with two strikeouts, while Jasvir Rakkar (Brampton, ON) blanked Colombia in the ninth getting a double play and a strikeout to end the game. In between, Brock Kjeldgaard (London, ON) put the icing on the cake with a pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.
Up Next: Canada will move back to Field 1 at President’s Choice Ajax Pan Am Ball Park tomorrow when they face Nicaragua at 7pm ET…RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, QC) is scheduled to start…The best way to keep up with the action is by following @baseballcanada on Twitter…For tournament standings and stats, and to receive live game updates, please click here.
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