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Canadians overpower Netherlands in 9-2 victory

Hit ‘em early and hit ‘em hard. That’s the strategy a nervous Team Canada squad employed against the Netherlands on the opening day of the World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay.
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Canadian outfielder Philip Diedrick is tagged out at home plate by the Netherlands Rashid Gerard during the first inning of their World Junior Basebal Championship game on Friday at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay. (By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)
Hit ‘em early and hit ‘em hard.

That’s the strategy a nervous Team Canada squad employed against the Netherlands on the opening day of the World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay.

It didn’t take the host nation long to overcome their jitters. The Canadians scored three in the first and four in the second, allowing starter Jese Dygestile-Therrien to withstand a shaky start and cruise to a lopsided 9-2 victory.

Dalton Pompey and Brandon Dailey homered back-to-back for Canada to pace the offensive attack, which rapped out a dozen hits against a trio of Dutch pitchers.

“It got us in the win column right off the bat,” said Dailey, whose three-run shot in the second left no doubt in the minds of the 2,500 paying customers at Port Arthur Stadium who was going to capture this one, staking Canada to a 6-1 lead at the time. 

“It definitely takes a little bit of the pressure off, but we’ve got a big game tomorrow and we’ll come back and hopefully get another W.”

Dailey’s aggressiveness on the basepath’s set the tone early for the Canadian squad, turning an error into a run after stealing second and romping home on Blue Jays draft pick Dalton Pompey’s double to centre.

“Doing all the little things consistently, making plays and picking the ball up and moving runners around definitely helped us along to the win,” Dailey said, coming off a 1-for-5 night at the plate.

Pompey was no slouch either, a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with a pair of walks, a run and two driven in.

It’s a great way to start the tournament, the 17-year-old Mississauga native said.

“It makes you more confident going into the rest of the tournament, for sure,” he said. “I was definitely nervous, I can just hide it pretty well. When you heard the national anthem, it was pretty special to me and to hear everybody singing along, I know I’ll never forget it.”

Netherlands starter Scott Ronnenbergh probably won’t forget it either, but for different, less joyful reasons.

The 18-year-old never found his groove, and if it weren’t for the Canadians trying to take extra bases in the second, the score could have been much worse.

Toronto’s Jalen Harris doubled home a pair of runners in the first to extend Canada’s lead to 3-0, and after the Netherlands got one back in the bottom of the inning on a Pompey throwing error off a Nick Ubranus double that sailed wide of third, the Canadians were at it again in the second.

With Jimmy Ralph on first, leadoff hitter Emmanuel Forcier walked, setting the stage for Dailey’s heroics.

Dutch manager Brian Farley tried a new approach in the third, lifting Ronnenbergh in favour of Reginald Bomberg, a move that paid off in spades.

Bomberg managed to shut down the Canadian offence, striking out eight over three-and-a-third, though he did find trouble in the fourth, walking four batters, which combined with a balk and a wild pitch, led to another pair of opposition runs.

“I had to shut it down, do what I can do and keep my team up,” the Amsterdam native said. “I did my job.”

The Netherlands scored their only other run in the sixth, when Rashid Gerard christened the new $40,000 scoreboard in leftfield, lining a shot off it in Dygestile-Therrien’s final inning of work.

It won’t get any easier for the Dutch, who face two-time WJBC defending champion Korea on Saturday. Farley said it was too much to expect for his team to rebound from a seven-run deficit, no matter how early in the game it happened.

“When you get behind by that many runs against that kind of team, you’re in trouble. You have to tip your hat to Canada. They were very focused, they squared up the ball as good as I’ve seen in a long time, consistently play after play. You just don’t see guys taking the ball to the gap like that. And it wasn’t just on the fastball.”

His Canadian counterpart, Greg Hamilton, said it was good to get a win under their belts, but with 11-time champion Cuba on deck, there’s no time for his team to rest on its laurels.

“We had to do that. It’s a game you need to win, you have to win, especially when it’s opening night,” Hamilton said.

He added his team might be a little less aggressive on the basepaths on Saturday night.

“You can’t run yourselves out ballgames. If you ‘re playing a team that matches up real well and it’s a one-run game, those things cost you and cost you dearly. But I think tonight you knew there were going to be some exciting kids and I’d rather be aggressive than tentative,” he said.

Joel Pierce, Brian Bardis and Nicholas Pivetta pitched an inning of scoreless ball each in relief for Canada.

World views: Saturday will feature a five-game schedule, starting with France and Chinese Taipei making their WJBC debut at Central Field at 9 a.m. Also on tap at Central are the Netherlands and Korea at 12:30 p.m. and the Czech Republic and Panama at 4:30 p.m. At Port Arthur Stadium there will be a meet-and-greet with the Italian team at 9:30 a.m., followed by the U.S. and Australia at 2 p.m. and Cuba and Canada at 7 p.m. Canada will send Ladner, B.C. righty Tom Robson to the mound.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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