Junior Men's Worlds - Day 4
Monday, June 23, 2008
Canada blasts past Venezuela 14-3 at Junior Men`s Worlds
(Whitehorse, Yukon) – The Canadian Junior Men’s National Team kept rolling last night by jumping all over Venezuela to improve their record to 5-0 at the ISF Junior Men’s World Championships. After most of the day’s games were postponed due to inclement weather, including a game between Canada and Botswana that was schedule for 11:00am PDT, the rain cleared up in the afternoon and the night games were able to be played. The postponed games will be played over the next two days.
Canadian starting pitcher Dustin Keshane (Norquay, SK) struck out the side in the top of the first inning, and Canada wasted no time giving him run support, scoring six runs in the bottom of the frame. After Terrell Walker (Balcarres, SK) reached on an error and Dylan Cunningham (Belwood, ON) drew a walk, Mike Noftall (St. John’s, NL) hit a line drive RBI single to right field to bring Walker in from second base. Then, Jessin Potskin (Prince George, BC) connected with a triple down the first base line to clear the bases, and immediately scored on a single by Travis Dauvin (Saskatoon, SK). After a couple of walks loaded the bases, Walker came up for the second time in the inning and drove a pitch to center field to push two more runs in to score, giving Canada a 6-0 lead after one inning of play.
After Venezuela scored two runs in the top of the second, the Canadian offence continued to click in the bottom of the inning. Potskin led off with a line drive double that soared over the centerfielder’s head, followed by a walk to Dauvin and a three-run homerun by Joran Graham (Micksburg, ON). Canada then quickly loaded the bases and pushed a run across on a fielder’s choice before Noftall deposited a three-run blast of his own just over the left field fence. Canada kept the bats alive in the bottom of the third when Dauvin, Graham and Dan Mitchell (Paris, ON) started the inning with three consecutive singles to bring in Canada’s final run. Venezuela managed to scrape another run in the fourth, but that was all they would get as Canada took the 14-3 run-ahead rule decision through four and a half innings of play.
With the excellent run support provided by his offence, Keshane was very comfortable in the pitcher’s circle and was able to go after hitters at will. He allowed three runs on seven hits to an excellent hitting Venezuelan team that had produced 55 runs in five games played. His aggressiveness in the circle can certainly explain the fact that he did not allow a single walk and recorded 11 strikeouts in only five innings of work. In addition to all the offence described above, Derek Arsenie (Saskatoon, SK) also chipped in with a single.
Beginning on Thursday, June 26th, all tournament games will be aired through Ballpark Radio, including Canada against Japan (June 26th - 7:30pm PDT), Canada against the United States (June 27th – 7:30pm PDT) and all four playoff games on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th. Click on the logo below to launch Ballpark Radio!
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