SAN PEDRO DE MACORIS, DR – The Junior National Team had a fourth win in a row within their grasp, but the Los Angeles Angels crossed the plate twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and surprise the Canadians with an 8-7 win.
The juniors were one out away from a fourth consecutive victory when the Angels notched a pair of singles followed by a double to score both runners and steal the win.
However, Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) knocked his seventh home run of the camp, going 1-for-3 in the game with a two-run shot and three RBI, 18 in total so far.
The Canadians opened the scoring in the first inning for the third time in four games on Lawrie’s two-run bomb.
The Angels would strike back in the second inning with three runs against Canadian starter Brad Furdal (Ancaster, ON). Four singles brought in the runs for Los Angeles
An error, a single and a pair of doubles allowed the Angels to add to their lead in the fifth inning against Nathan Linseman (Ariss, ON), scoring three times and increasing their lead to 6-2.
The Canadians would claw back and reduce the lead to one in the sixth inning when a pair of bases loaded walks to James Kottaras (Markham, ON) and Lawrie scored a pair. Marcus Knecht (Toronto, ON) hit into a double play, but Ivan Hartle came in to score and make the score 6-5.
The Juniors took the lead in the eighth inning on a Kottaras two-run double, bringing to the plate Jeff Hunt (Cambridge, ON) and Hartle to put Canada ahead 7-6.
But that lead would be short lived as the Angels scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the win.
The Junior National Team will next take on the Texas Rangers on Sunday, May 25 in San Pedro de Macoris at 11 am.
