Canada came out flat and did not do themselves any favours as they suffered a 13-1 loss at the hands of the Australian U18 National Team. With the win, Australia moves to 2-0 in the eight-game series, while Canada is still searching for their first win.
Both teams will use the series to determine their 20 player rosters that will compete in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan from August 28th – September 6th.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Australia (U18) 13 Canada (U18) 1 - Box Score
Location: Surfers Paradise Baseball Field – Gold Coast, Australia
Weather: 21C, strong breeze
Canada U18 Starting Lineup:
1. Adam Hall – DH
2. Kobe Hyland - SS
3. Demi Orimoloye – RF
4. Andrew Yerzy - C
5. Tristan Pompey – LF
6. Luke Van Rycheghem – DH
7. Royce Ando – 2B
8. Cooper Davis - CF
9. JF Garon – LF
10. Brad Aldred – 1B
11. Peter Hutzal – 3B
Starting Pitcher: RHP Nicholas Virdo
HOW IT HAPPENED
-JNT starter Nick Virdo (Brampton, ON) struggled early walking the first batter he faced before hitting the next two batters to load the bases. He was then removed from the game in favour of Brady Moxham (Oakville, MB) who gave up a fly ball to left field that allowed the runner from third to tag and score the first run of the game. With one down, a potential double play ball was misplayed up the middle that allowed two more Aussie runs to score.
-Australia added to their lead in the fourth when Moxham gave up a lead off homer off a 1-0 fastball that saw the ball clear the wall in left field. After a pair of singles and a groundout that moved the runners to second and third, a single up the middle allowed them to score to give the Aussies a six-run lead.
-After Tristan Pompey (Mississauga, ON) got Canada on the board with a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the fifth, Australia answered back with two runs in the top of the sixth to go up by seven. Reliever RJ Freure (Burlington, ON) walked two batters that both came around to score on a single to right field. After Freure hit a batter to load the bases, he hit the next batter to bring in a run.
-Things didn’t get better for Freure in the seventh as he continued to struggle with his control hitting three batters and walking two which led to four more Aussie runs coming in.
-Back-to-back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth, off of reliever William Sierra (Montréal, QC) brought in the thirteenth Aussie run of the game.
JNT HIGHLIGHTS
-Pompey’s homer came with one out on a 0-2 pitch that he belted over the wall in left field.
-Moxham, who came into the game cold after Virdo failed to get an out in the first inning, did a solid job on the mound for Canada working five innings that included three scoreless frames. He ended his outing with three strikeouts.
-Including Pompey’s homer, Canada only managed four hits that saw Brad Aldred (Whitby, ON) collect his second double of the week in addition to a single, while Adam Hall (London, ON) had the other hit.
TEAM LEADERS
Hits: 2, Aldred (2/3); 1, Pompey (1/3), Hall (1/3)
Runs: 1, Pompey
Doubles: 1, Aldred
Home Runs: 1, Pompey
RBIs: 1, Pompey
Strikeouts: 3, Moxham, Sierra; 1, Freure
UP NEXT
Canada and Australia will play game three of the eight game series tomorrow at Surfers Paradise Baseball Field at 12:30pm GMT/10:30pm ET (08/18)…RHP Will McAffer (North Vancouver, BC) is expected to start on the mound for Canada…All games of the Canada/Australia U18 series can be seen live by clicking on the following link:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mlb-aap
You can also follow the action with live scoring:
Statistics: www.livestats.baseball.com.au/2015/U18Series/confstat.htm
Results: www.livestats.baseball.com.au/2015/U18Series/lgsumm.htm
Live Scoring: www.livestats.baseball.com.au/2015/U18Series/xlive.htm
Follow Team Canada:
