Kellogg pitches 8.2 scoreless as Canada edges USA 2-1
* Headed for Arizona State LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) will see plenty of American hitters … like those he faced for Canada in 8 2/3 scoreless as Canada beat Team USA 1-0 to move to 2-1 in the medal round play at the World Juniors tourney in Korea. Photo: Adam Morissette ….
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2012 Canadians in the Minors
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ADAM MORRISSETTE – Canada advances with eight double attack in 10-1 win over Panama …. Newfoundland’s Myles Vincent beats Czech Republic with 7 strong innings …. Chinese Taipei rallies to beat Canucks …. Brett Siddall walks of Canucks vs. Italy …. Jesse Hodges hits 2-out HR in 9th, scores winner in 10th …. Canada rained out in opener …. Canada sets roster for worlds as Italy tourney final rained out with link to other action in Italy.
ALEXIS BRUDNICKI – Faris Adamou’s summer? AS game in KC, workout with Jrs. …. Nathan DeSouza fast tracked to Rogers Centre ….Logan Seifrit part of the Vauxhall brand …. Brock Dykxhoorn one tall drink of water …. Gareth Morgan a veteran … who needs a lift to the park …. Myles Vincent best arm from Newfoundland in decades …. Vid of DeSouza, Burnette, Dykxhoorn, Morgan, Quantrill, Seifrit, Vincent … Rogers Centre interviews ….Jamar Burnette has hits on field, recording studio …. Cal Quantrill passes on Under Armour, impresses at East Coast.
MELISSA COUTO – Ryan Kellogg, Jacob Robson chose school over pro ranks
Josh Naylor, Gareth Morgan impress at 2012 MLB Futures Game
By Adam Morissette
(Vids from Bernie Hann productions)
Lefty Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) tossed 8 2/3 scoreless innings, Nathan DeSouza (Milton, Ont.) came up with an RBI single in the top of the 10th and Dayton Dawe (London, Ont.) shut the door in the bottom of the 10th as Canada blanked the United States 1-0 in extras.
The win puts Canada’s record at 2-1 as the second round is underway at the IBAF 18U World Baseball Championships. Canada went 3-1 in pool play and carried over a 1-1 record from the first round (a win over Japan and a loss to Chinese Taipei, the teams that advanced).
Canada now sits tied for first with Columbia and Chinese Taipei at 2-1. Team USA, Japan and South Korea are all 1-2.
“It was a great game and I’m real proud of the guys for competing the way they did today,” said manager Greg Hamilton. “Other than some base running miscues I thought we were outstanding in all facets of the game.”
Canada began the top of the 10th with runners on first and second base due to the international tie-break rules. Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) stepped to the plate and delivered a sac-bunt to advance the runners and the US decided to walk Kyle Hann (Oakville, Ont.) intentionally to load the bases for DeSouza, Canada’s No. 3 hitter. Good news, but the scoreboard showed an .059 batting average.
In an eight pitch at-bat where he fouled of six pitches, DeSouza came through with a single through the left side which scored Chris Shaw (Winnipeg, Man.) from third base with the game’s first run.
“I was trying to make contact and put the ball in play,” said DeSouza. “I got a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it.”
“That was a great at-bat by Nathan,” added Hamilton. “Their guy was going slider and a fastball off of it with Nathan in a two strike count. For him to stay with it and shoot that ball to left field was a tremendous job.”
Dawe, who had come in with two out in the ninth inning in relief of starter Kellogg, came back out for the 10th and faced a situation of runners on first and second with nobody out.
The first batter tried a fake-bunt, slap hit on two occasions before grounding into a silky smooth turned 4-6-3 double play by Hann and Mitchell Triolo (Scarborough, Ont.). Dawe then got the final US batter to fly-out to Gareth Morgan (Toronto, Ont.) in right field to end the game.
The victory would not have been possible without the efforts of starter Kellogg who threw 115 pitches and 8 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the US off the scoreboard.
“Ryan likes big games, he has big game stuff, big game composure and he showed that today,” explained Hamilton. “You want to get to a game like this and have someone like Ryan available to pitch.”
Kellogg only allowed two hits and a walk, while striking out five batters.
“Tonight was probably the longest and best game I have ever pitched,” he said of his performance. “The biggest key for me was keeping their hitters off-balance.”
Kellogg was particularly impressive in getting out of a jam in the seventh where he allowed a walk, balked and hit a batter before a getting a ground ball out to end the inning.
“Fatigue set in a little bit, but the adrenaline was going and I fought my way through it,” he said.
Canada also had their opportunities to score, but some base running mistakes prevented them from taking advantage of having runners on base in such a tight ballgame.
“We had opportunities to score and didn’t and sometimes the other team gets chances and you end up letting a game go,” said Hamilton. “We faced some adversity, but the guys didn’t let it affect them.”
Hann did his part to contribute as he got on base in all five plate appearances he had, including a double in the third.
Canada faces a quick turnaround as they will take-on a Colombia squad tomorrow morning that upset Japan earlier today.
The game will be Canada’s third in a little over 24 hours.
“We can enjoy this win tonight, but we have to forget about it tomorrow because we need to win,” said Hamilton. “You want to use the momentum of tonight and carry it into tomorrow, but you can’t rest on the fact that you beat a good club tonight because things could change in a hurry.”
Notes: The game against Colombia will take place at Mokdong Stadium with the first pitch coming at 10am local time (9 pm ET)….. You can follow all tournament games LIVE on Game Tracker … Tournament schedule, rosters, stats and standings are also available at the above link … The Korean Baseball Federation also has created a tournament website … And for news, notes and updates directly from Seoul, please follow Baseball Canada on Twitter.
