Canada – Great Britain 11-1 (7)
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Canada lived up to its own expectations on the first day of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Regensburg. On Thursday evening the Maple Leafs dismantled Great Britain 11-1, ending the contest with an eight-run rally in the bottom of the seventh. Jimmy van Ostrand homered and combined with Skyler Stromsmoe for six RBI. Shawn Hill pitched 5 2/3 innings of three-hit ball to earn the win. Albert Cartwright went deep for the British team.
Key play of the game was an error in the very first inning. Chris Robinson tried to go from first to third on a groundball single to left by Tim Smith. However the throw by Bonn Capital BJ Roper-Hubbert was on target and beat him by a couple of feet. But third baseman Michael Johnson missed the tag and everybody was safe. Robinson and Smith would eventually score on a wild pitch and a groundout by Jimmy van Ostrand to give Canada a quick 2-0 lead.
A RBI double down the right-field line by Adam Loewen made it 3-0 in the fifth, just before Albert Cartwright brought the British team on the board. His homerun over the wall in left field ended the shutout bid, but was all they got in the game. Canada meanwhile turned the score into a blowout with eight runs in the bottom of the seventh. They rallied behind a Chris Robinson RBI single, a Jimmy van Ostrand two-run homerun over the right-center field wall, a bases clearing double by Skyler Stromsoe and a two-run game-ending triple by Tyson Gillies.
On the mound Shawn Hill made the most out of his 87 pitches, allowing just three hits and a run in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and easily cruised to the win, keeping the ball mostly in the infield. Chris Kissock closed it out with 1 1/3 frames of one-hit relief. Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Chris Reed was on a much shorter leash for Great Britain, leaving the mound after 51 pitches, 2 2/3 innings pitched, two hits, two unearned runs and two walks to take the loss. While Kyle Wilson and Michael Roth kept the Canadian bats in check afterwards, all floodgates opened with Greg Hendrix and Paul Waterman.
Photo by Walter Keller