(Photo: Fred Thornhill/CP)
AJAX, Ontario – The Canadian flags were in abundance and waiving proudly at President’s Choice Ajax Pan Am Ball Park tonight as Team Canada gave the hometown fans plenty to cheer about as they earned a 3-1 win over Cuba.
Shawn Hill (Georgetown, ON) frustrated Cuba’s hitters during six scoreless innings of work and Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) belted a mammoth three-run homer in the sixth inning as Canada improved their record to a perfect 4-0 after four days at the Pan American Games Men’s Baseball Competition.
Canada now sits alone in first place in the seven-team event and in an excellent position to grab one of four semi-final spots.
“Anytime you can beat Cuba or the USA - they're power houses. It just shows where we are in Canada — that we can compete with the best nations,” said Canadian Manager Ernie Whitt. “It will really mean something if we meet them in the semis or the final and beat them."
Cuba scored their lone run on a lead off home run by Alfredo Despaigne in the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Andrew Albers (North Battleford, SK) bounced back retiring six out seven hitters before Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC) worked a perfect ninth to earn the save.
The story of the game early on for Canada was Shawn Hill who allowed only three hits and a walk over six shutout innings. The right-hander was forcing Cuba’s hitters to drive balls into the ground, as ten of his 18 outs were on groundouts.
"He's just a true professional, he knows how to pitch,” explained Whitt. “He doesn't light up the radar gun, but he knows how to pitch, move the ball in and out, change speeds. He kept a good Cuban team off-balance."
Hill overcame adversity in the sixth after allowing a one out single and a walk by getting a lineout to second baseman Skyler Stromsmoe (Bow Island, AB) and a fly-out to centre to leave the runners on base.
In the sixth with runners on first and second and one out, Tyler O’Neill came to the plate and belted a three-run homer off the batter’s eye that sits behind the wall in centerfield bringing the capacity crowd at President’s Choice Pan Am Ball Park to their feet.
"I got some good wood on it,” said O’Neill. “It's just one of those feelings where when you tag a ball and really know it's gone, it just kind of erupts something inside of you and gets you really going."
"He's got to hit the weight room a little bit,” joked Ernie Whitt. “He didn't clear the batter's-eye, so we've got to get that cleared up a little bit. No, he's been pretty good in this tournament."
Both sides were even for the most part throughout the game with Cuban starter Yoennis Yera and Hill going toe-to-toe in the early innings. Cuba out-hit Canada five to four and both clubs left four runners on base.
Up Next: Canada will enjoy an off day tomorrow before returning to action on Thursday when they face Puerto Rico (7pm ET) at President’s Choice Ajax Pan Am Ball Park…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.
Follow Team Canada
.jpeg)
