SARASOTA, Florida – Myles Naylor (Mississauga, ON) belted a solo homer in the fifth inning that proved to be the difference as Canada hung on to defeat Australia, 7-6, as the Placement Round opened at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
BOX SCORE – Canada 7, Australia 6
Naylor’s blast came on the heels of Sam White’s (Aurora, ON) RBI single earlier in the inning that broke a 5-5 tie in a game that took place at Ed Smith Stadium.
Canada jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to a Naylor RBI single before the Aussies came back to tie in the third.
The tie didn’t last as Canada plated three runs in the home half of the inning with the big blow coming when Hugh Pinkney (Toronto, ON) tripled to centre that brought in the second and third runs of the frame.
Canada starting pitcher Jack Pineau (Thunder Bay, ON) worked his way into the fourth inning before walking in a run on the bases loaded that ended his outing. Makaio Cisneros (Whitby, ON) took over and gave up a two -run double to Australia’s Max Stagg before another run scored on a fielder’s choice as Canada trailed for the first time in the game.
Cisneros settled in, keeping Australia off the scoreboard during the fifth and sixth innings while Tyrus Hall’s (Victoria, BC) RBI ground out in the bottom of the fourth tied the game.
Closer Zak Szabo (Whitby, ON) got into trouble after recording the first two outs of the inning, and after Australia came to within one run of the lead, recorded a strikeout to earn the save a preserve the win.
Canada will continue Placement Round play on Friday, September 16th at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota when they face Italy with the first pitch set for 9AM ET.
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