Worth their weight

They sang O Canada on the bus to the ballpark before every game, and the ride to the stadium in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico prior to the gold-medal contest against the United States at the Pan American Games was no different.

Only when they finished belting out the anthem at the top of their lungs this time, someone yelled that they should sing it once more afterwards.

They did precisely that after securing the senior national team’s first ever major championship, riding the great mound work of starter Andrew Albers and reliever Scott Richmond, one key swing by Jimmy Van Ostrand, and another prototypical Canadian effort in a 2-1 victory over the Americans.

Their wild on-field celebration afterwards finished with a patriotic twist.

"We saved the O Canada for the medal ceremony and when they played the anthem for the gold we were all chanting it right there," said Albers. "We sang it before every game to get us riled up and remind us what we’re playing for.

"That’s what our tradition was."

The victory Tuesday night capped a memorable and successful month for the national team that started with a bronze-medal run at the International Baseball Federation’s World Cup in Panama.

A golden run at the Pan Am Games in Mexico followed right after, making this group Baseball Canada’s most decorated.

"It’s unbelievable, a completely surreal experience," said Van Ostrand, the Richmond, B.C., native whose two-run double in the sixth provided the difference. "It hasn’t sunk in that it’s over, that we won, we took it home. It’s pretty special.

"We’re not just playing for ourselves, we’re playing for our parents, our friends, our families and everyone back home. We sang O Canada every single day."

The daily anthem tradition started during the World Cup, when coach Stubby Clapp would get things going on the bus and everyone else joined in. As time wore on, some national team newcomers were urged to start the festivities, while at the Pan Ams, Regina righty Dustin Molleken led the action.

"We were singing as loud as we can, smashing on the windows, hitting the roof," said Richmond. "We are a very passionate bunch of players, we are very proud of where we’re from and we’re not exactly the favourites when you have Cuba, the U.S., Mexico and all these great countries. But we made sure to bring a team that has a lot of heart and we leave it all out on the field."

That spirit was evident in the final against the Americans.

Canada fell behind 1-0 in the first on Brett Carroll’s RBI double but Albers – a 25-year-old lefty from North Battleford, Sask., who made the jump from the independent Quebec Capitales last year to double-A New Britain with the Twins this season – kept things right there.

Over 6.2 innings, he gave up six hits, walked none, and struck out eight, pitching with what Van Ostrand called "so much guts and so much feel. He was outstanding."

A key moment came in the seventh when the Americans put runners on the corners with one out. Albers struck out Tommy Mendonca for the second out, his final batter of the night, and afterwards manager Ernie Whitt brought in Richmond to face Tuffy Gosewisch, getting him on a fly to right.

"This is the biggest game I’ve had in my career," said Albers. "I was just so thankful for the opportunity and Ernie Whitt and Greg Hamilton having faith in me to give me the ball in the gold-medal game, and I just wanted to prove them right.

"Last year at this time I was playing independent ball and luckily I got a second chance and I’m just trying to take full advantage of that. It put some things in perspective and I enjoy it a little bit more now having gone the road that I have. There’s been some adversity, but it makes this taste that much sweeter."

Richmond, who pitched for triple-A Las Vegas in the Blue Jays system this season, retired the final six batters in order to close things out. The big moment for him was the Gosewisch at-bat, having bounced a first-pitch curveball in the dirt to move a runner to second.

"That was the game right there, they had a little momentum going and it was all about locating," said Richmond. "I am just so happy to have had the opportunity to pitch in that game, and to do as well as I did was a blessing. These guys battled the whole tournament and it was so great to be out there and shut the door."

Chris Robinson of Dorchester, Ont., a double-A catcher in the Cubs system, and Tim Smith of Toronto, a double-A outfielder with the Royals, hit back-to-back two-out singles before Van Ostrand poked his double down the right-field line against former teammate Andy Van Hekken to put Canada ahead.

"I’ve seen him pitch a lot and I’ve faced him a few times here and there," said Van Ostrand, a first baseman with double-A Corpus Christi in Houston’s system. "He was keeping the ball down and he threw a 1-1 fastball away, and I was able to find a hole down the line.

"We had to grind through a lot of our games, there were a lot of good teams here, none of the wins were easy."

Canada advanced to the final after beating host Mexico 5-3 in the semifinals, rallying after falling behind 3-0 in the first. Much the way Albers did, starter Shawn Hill of Georgetown, Ont., managed to string together some zeros afterwards so his offence could rally.

"That was tough but the guys stuck together," said Van Ostrand. "The crowd was getting as loud as can be, but we stayed at it the same way we’ve been all tournament long, everyone grinding, quality at-bats, and our pitchers gave us a chance to get back in the game."

For many of the players on the Canadian team, stocked with national program veterans and young up-and-coming prospects not on the 40-man roster of big-league clubs, the championship will mark the pinnacle of their international careers, if not their baseball careers as a whole.

"Nothing can really compare to a gold medal, especially when baseball is out of the Olympics," said Richmond. "We’re here to compete and show the world we can play baseball, and we just did that against a great opponent in the U.S.

"Everybody knows they can play ball and now the world knows we can hold our own, too."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.