DUNEDIN-Four pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout as the Junior National Team blanked the Toronto Blue Jays Instructional League Club 5-0 at the Bobby Mattick Complex.
The win comes twenty-four hours after the Jays thumped the juniors 13-3 and gives the JNT their first victory of the Fall Instructional League Camp.
Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, ON) gave his club a solid start on the mound as he allowed only one hit and two walks, while striking out four in three innings of work.
Gareth Morgan (Toronto, ON) got the juniors on the board in the fourth when he tripled to score Jamar Burnette (Toronto, ON) who had previously doubled.
After Morgan advanced to third on a groundout, Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) hit a triple of his own which scored Morgan easily from third and the juniors found themselves in front 2-0.
Blake Weston (Oakville, ON) took over on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and picked up exactly where Seabrooke left off by keeping the Jays off the scoreboard.
His club gave him a 3-0 cushion if the fifth when JD Osborne (Whitby, ON) picked up an RBI on a sac-fly and in the sixth the juniors added two more when Owen Spiwak (Mississauga, ON) singled home Tyler O’Neill and Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON).
Weston shut the Jays down again in the bottom of the sixth and ended his three inning outing with two strikeouts, while only allowing one hit and one walk.
Sean Ratcliffe (Ajax, ON) and Morgan Lofstrom (Kelowna, BC) each tossed a scoreless inning of relief and recorded one strikeout apiece.
Notes: The juniors will be back in action tomorrow when they return to ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando to take on the Detroit Tigers prospects at 1pm ET…Dylan Brooks (Dorchester, ON) is expected to start.
