OTTAWA- Trois-Riviéres edged Québec 3-2 to advance to the Gold Medal game at the Junior Championship. The game needed an extra inning and it was Trois-Riviéres, Symon Laplante (Sorel, QC) who scored the go ahead run in the top of the 8th when Québec made an error with the bases loaded. From there the game was in the hands of David Leblanc (Montréal, QC) who shut Québec down in the bottom of the 8th. Leblanc pitched the complete game and only gave up 4 hits. Québec forced extra innings in the bottom of the 7th when Kevin Tremblay (Boucherville, QC) scored on a passed ball.
Earlier in the day, Trois-Riviéres edged Nova Scotia 1-0 in a quarter-final game as Dominic Peladeau (Lachine, QC) struck out 7 to earn the complete game, shutout win.
The other semi-final featured Manitoba and Ontario. Manitoba beat Newfoundland in the other quarter-final earlier in the day and used that momentum to defeat Ontario 7-1. Brett Schreyer (St. Andres, MB) was 4 for 4 in the game with an incredible 6 RBI. Schreyer hit a double to score 2 in the first and followed that up with another 2 run scoring double in the 3rd inning. Schreyer’s other 2 RBI came on singles in both the 5th and 7th innings.
In other placement games Saskatchewan blanked Newfoundland 4-0 and New Brunswick got by Nova Scotia 3-2.
Peewee Western
The round-robin concluded at the Peewee Western championship in Brandon, Manitoba which also saw three placement games played.
In the 5th place game, Winnipeg South pounded Spruce Grove 16-6. Luxon Glor (Winnipeg, MB) went 2-for-3 with 4 runs scored. Riley Poole (Winnipeg, MB) went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored.
Mid West crushed the Saskatoon Blue Jays 12-2 to claim 7th place. Brody Burnett (Binscarth, MB) was stellar on the mound tossing 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned), 2 hits, 2 walks while striking out 5. Ashton Anderson (Rivers, MB) went 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Ryley Zimmer (Russell, MB), Joben Smith (Foxwarren, MB) and Burnett drove in two runs each.
In the 9th place game, Edmonton used an 11 run 7th inning to blow-out Regina 16-6. Kurt Meeberg (Edmonton, AB) and Craig Hole (Edmonton, AB) had 3 hits and 3 RBI each for the Cardinals. Troy Murray (White City, SK) went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored while John Lerach (Emerald Park, SK) had 2 hits and 2 RBI for Regina.
Other scores from round-robin play were: Winnipeg South beating the Saskatoon Blue Jays 7-0, Mid West handled Regina 19-0, Abbotsford edged Edmonton 4-3 and Ridge Meadows got by Spruce Grove 11-7.
Semi-finals scheduled for the final day of the tournament include: the Saskatoon Braves facing-off against the host Brandon club and Abbotsford taking on Ridge Meadows in a battle of BC teams.
Midget
The conclusion of the round-robin was all that could be played at the Midget championship in London, Ontario. Rain came down which forced many games to be moved to the final day of competition.
Ontario beat Saskatchewan 7-0 in the first game of the day as Mitchell Bouchard (Harrow, ON) picked up the complete game victory, firing 7 innings of shutout ball which saw him strike out 4. Ontario jumped on Saskatchewan starter Tanner Spencer (Craik, SK) in the 2nd inning by scoring 5 runs to take a commanding lead. Michael Foster (Pickering, ON) had a hit an RBI and scored a run for Ontario.
Adam Hendrie (Cole Harbour, NS) was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored as Nova Scotia topped New Brunswick 6-3.
Québec (1) earned a quarter-final berth as they beat Manitoba 3-1. Simon Brisebois (Mascouche, QC) was a one-man show as he recorded the win on the mound and struck out 8 while also picking up 2 hits and 2 RBI at the plate.
BC earned a bye to the semi-finals as they shutout host London 5-0. Clayton Franco (Cloverdale, BC) fashioned a 4 hitter to pick up the complete game victory.
Ontario also received a bye to the other semi-final as they hung on to beat Québec (2) by a score of 4-2. Andrew Cooper (Belle River, ON) had a 2 run single in the 5th inning.
The quarter-finals will see a battle of Québec (Québec (1) vs. Québec (2) with the winner facing BC in one semi-final. The other quarter-final will feature London and Nova Scotia which will see the winner take on Ontario in the second semi-final.
Notes: Fans can follow all of the action from all National Championships live, courtesy of Pointstreak by visiting: http://baseballcanada.bbstats.pointstreak.com/scoreboard.html?leagueid=110&seasonid=375
