Baseball Canada – HAVANA, Cuba – The Junior National Team let one slip away and came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 score as Cuba swept a morning/afternoon doubleheader and now hold a 3-0 record in the nine-game Cuba Summer Series. In the morning, the juniors led 5-2 after six thanks to home runs from Adam Hall (London, ON) and Noah Naylor (Mississauga, ON) in a five-run third, but allowed Cuba to jump back into he game as they scored six in the seventh. The juniors rallied but came up short in an 8-7 final.

The second game saw the juniors limited to just three hits on offence and come up just short with the tying run left on third in the seventh of a seven inning game.

The series continues tomorrow at Estadio Latinoamericano.

GAME ONE INFORMATION

Score: Cuba (U-18) 8 Canada (U-18) 7

Location: Estadio Latinoamericano – Havana, Cuba

Weather: 34 degrees Celsius, A few clouds

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:

1. Cooper Davis – CF

2. Dondrae Bremner – 3B

3. Adam Hall – SS

4. Edouard Julien – DH

5. Clayton Keyes – LF

6. Noah Naylor – C

7. Jason Willow – 2B

8. Michael Stovman – 1B

9. Tyler Duncan – RF

Starting Pitcher: RHP William Sierra

HOW IT HAPPENED

-With Canada the home team, a leadoff walk followed by a ground out put a runner in scoring position before JNT starter William Sierra (Montréal, QC) allowed a sharp single that gave the Cubans a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

-The juniors struck for five “loud” runs in the third courtesy of a pair of home runs coming from Adam Hall and Noah Naylor. Cooper Davis (Mississauga, ON) and Dondrae Bremner (Toronto, ON) reached on back-to-back one out singles before Hall sent a 3-0 offering well over the wall in left field. Three batters later, with Edouard Julien (Québec, QC) standing on second after a single and stolen base, Noah Naylor ripped a pitch over the wall in right to put the juniors up by four.

-Sierra kept the Cubans off the scoreboard until the fifth when he was removed in favour of Jaden Griffin (Lower Sackville, NS) with a runner on third base and two out. Griffin allowed a single that brought in the runner from third and cut Canada’s lead to three.

-Things went sour for Griffin and the juniors in the seventh as he walked four straight batters for one run before a Dondrae Bremner throwing error led to three more Cuban runs scoring. Griffin was removed from the game after a pair of singles and walk, and in came Austin Brown (Powell River, BC) who, after a strikeout, issued a wild pitch to bring one run in while another scored on a passed ball. When the dust settled, the Cubans scored six runs to erase a three run deficit and led 8-5.

-The juniors added a run in the eighth as Clayton Keyes (Calgary, AB) found himself on second base after a fielder’s choice and an error before Jason Willow (Victoria, BC) cashed him in with a single to centre.

-In the bottom of the ninth, the juniors made things interesting as Tyler Duncan (Sooke, BC) walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Cooper Davis singled to left to put runners on the corners. With one out, Davis was picked off first base before Adam Hall singled to score Duncan and collect his fourth RBI of the game. A strikeout ended the threat.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS

-After registering just five base hits in yesterday’s game, the juniors showed the Cubans that they have a little thump in their bats as proof from the Hall and Naylor home runs in the fifth.

-The juniors recorded 11 hits with four players having multi-hit game’s and stole four bases with Adam Hall swiping two while Edouard Julien and Tyler Duncan had one each.

-On the pitching side of things, it was a solid Junior National Team debut for Austin Brown who worked two and two-thirds scoreless innings. Brown didn’t allow a hit, walked just one and struck out four batters.

TEAM LEADERS

Hits: 2, Davis (2/5), Hall (2/4), Julien (2/4), Duncan (2/3)

Home Runs: 1, Hall, Naylor

Runs: 1, Davis, Bremner, Hall, Julien, Keyes, Naylor, Duncan

RBIs: 4, Hall; 2, Naylor; 1, Willow

Stolen Bases: 2, Hall; 1, Julien, Duncan

Strikeouts: 4, Sierra, Brown; 2, Griffin

GAME TWO INFORMATION

Score: Cuba (U-18) 3 Canada (U-18) 1 (7 innings)

Location: Estadio Latinoamericano – Havana, Cuba

Weather: 32 degrees Celsius, A few clouds

Canada 18U Starting Lineup:

1. Cooper Davis – CF

2. Dondrae Bremner – 2B

3. Adam Hall – SS

4. Noah Naylor – DH

5. Jason Willow – RF

6. Soren Graversen – 1B

7. Victor Cerny – C

8. Steven Moretto – 3B

9. Terrell Rogers – LF

Starting Pitcher: LHP Wesley Moore

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Cuba used a leadoff single and stolen base to get a runner in scoring position before JNT starter Wesley Moore (Surrey, BC) fanned a pair, but a two out base hit gave the Cubans a 1-0 lead after one.

-The juniors answered back in the second as they took advantage of three consecutive walks to start the frame before catching a break as a ball off the bat of Adam Hall was misplayed by the second baseman.

-Cuba went back ahead with runs in the bottom of the third and it was after an error, walk and base hit bunt to load the bases that led to two runs scoring on RBI singles.

-The juniors were limited to just two hits on the afternoon as Hall and Steven Moretto (Burnaby, BC) had singles.

-In the seventh, Adam Hall walked with two out and moved to third when Noah Naylor doubled down the right field line. Hall scored to pull the juniors within one when a routine throw was dropped by the Cuban first baseman. A strikeout ended the rally.

JNT HIGHLIGHTS

-Starter Wesley Moore grinded out five innings on the mound as he went five innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and five walks to go along with three strikeouts.

TEAM LEADERS

Hits: 1, Hall (1/3), Moretto (1/1), Naylor (1/4)

Runs: 1, Cerny, Hall

Strikeouts: 3, Moore

UP NEXT

Canada and Cuba will play a game four of the Cuba Summer Series tomorrow at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana with the first pitch at 10am ET…LHP Harley Gollert (Toronto, ON) will get the start on the mound…Fans can watch the game live on CubaVision via the following link http://www.fidelista-por-siempre.org/CubaVision-en-Vivo.aspx …Live tweets will be available by following @Team_C_Updates on Twitter.