Canadian junior national team gains experience against Toronto Blue Jays

DUNEDIN, Fla. – The score didn’t matter.

The Toronto Blue Jays ran away with a 17-3 win against the Canadian junior national team on Sunday, but the day was about far more than just playing a baseball game— it was about celebrating Canadian baseball.

“Regardless of the score, today’s experience was tremendous and something that (our players) will carry with them for a long time,” said Canadian head coach Greg Hamilton. “(Our guys) are in a unique class in the sense that they’re teenagers and not only got to play against big-leaguers, but had the opportunity to interact with them and get to know them a bit before the game.”

The scene during pre-game batting practice included members of the junior national team shagging fly balls with some of their big league heroes, including Canadian Blue Jays Russell Martin, Dalton Pompey and Jeff Francis.

“It was a pretty amazing experience,” said Miles Gordon. “Speaking with a player like Dalton Pompey, knowing that he was a member of the junior team only five years ago makes the dream of reaching the majors more real.”

It was a special day for Pompey and his brother Tristan, a current member of the junior national team, as the two played against each other for the first time ever with both their parents looking on.

In a unique moment, Dalton flew out to left field leading off the bottom of the first with the ball landing in brother Tristan’s glove. The elder Pompey then pointed to his brother acknowledging the catch.

The Blue Jays organization brought all Canadians currently in minor-league camp over to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium for Sunday’s game, including junior national team alumni Justin Atkinson, Andrew Albers, Marcus Knecht, Tom Robson and Jordan Romano. In total, 13 Canadians were on the Blue Jays roster for the annual affair that moved to Dunedin for the first time ever.

“A day like today is very important for Baseball Canada and we’re very thankful to the Blue Jays organization for their support,” added Hamilton. “Seeing some of our alumni here is truly special for our program and we’re grateful to them for being here today.”

The Blue Jays started R.A. Dickey and the juniors managed four hits off him, including a double by Toronto’s Andrew Yerzy and singles from Kobe Hyland of Spruce Grove Alta., Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ont. and JF Garon of Terrebonne, Que.

Tristan Pompey and Garon each picked up RBI’s in the fourth inning when the juniors scored twice to get on the board.

Francis took over for Dickey in the seventh and pitched a clean inning with two strikeouts before Albers took the mound in the eighth and gave up a run on a sac-fly from Hyland that brought in Mississauga’s Royce Ando.

Canadian starter Mike Sorokoa, from Calgary, was on the mound for two innings that saw seven runs score although only one was earned. He fanned two, including Dalton Pompey in the second inning.