LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida- Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) kept his hot bat going drilling a solo home run in the top of the fifth as the Junior National Team fell to the Atlanta Braves extended spring training club 6-3.
Down 4-0 in the fifth, Morgan’s blast came when he led-off the inning breaking the Braves shutout bid. Unfortunately the Braves added two more runs and the juniors came up just short in a comeback bid.
In the bottom of the first, JNT starter Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) issued a one-out walk before an error gave the Braves runners on first and second. Both runners would later score on a steal of home and RBI single.
The Braves added runs in both the second on fourth innings with the run in the second scoring on a single, while the run in the fourth scored on a wild pitch.
Onyshko’s four-inning outing saw him give up two earned runs, six hits, three walks, while he managed three strikeouts.
After Morgan’s homer, the juniors had a chance to cut into the Braves lead in the sixth loading the bases on singles from Robert Byckowski (Etobicoke, ON) and Charles Leblanc (Laval, QC), while Tristan Clarke (Brampton, ON) reached on a fielder’s choice but all three were left stranded.
Nolan Bumstead (Calgary, AB) did an admirable job in relief retiring six batters in a row at one point before the Braves scored an unearned run on a single, error and sac-fly in the seventh.
Bumstead worked three innings and allowed only one hit, while striking out one batter.
In the top of the eighth, Robert Byckowski drew a one-out walk and scored when Charles Leblanc drilled a two-out double. Leblanc later came into score on a JF Garon (Terrebonne, QC) single.
Brad Smith (Vancouver, BC) tossed a scoreless eighth inning before the Braves scored an unearned run in the ninth after a single, groundout and error.
The juniors managed eight hits on the afternoon with Leblanc leading the way with a single and double, while LP Pelletier (Montréal, QC) had two singles. Luke Horanski (Dugald, MB) also singled.
Up Next: The juniors will play their final spring training game tomorrow at ESPN Wide World of Sports when the Washington Nationals extended team travel to Lake Buena Vista for a 1pm ET contest…RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, AB) is expected to start.
