DUNEDIN, Fla. – It wasn’t even a real fake game and it was a blowout, but it was a fantastic day at the ballpark as a split squad of Blue Jays took on the Canadian National Junior Team, down here on a 10-day sojourn through Central Florida.
The “real” game – the one that counted in the Grapefruit League standings – saw Marco Estrada right himself after a disastrous outing earlier in the week and Dioner Navarro test his rickety knee and wind up with a couple of hits. Jose Bautista hit his team-leading second home run of the spring and Dayan Viciedo picked up a knock, as well. And of course, Ramon Santiago broke his collarbone.
But it was the exhibition against the Junior Nats that stole the show. The Blue Jays held back all their Canadian players to mix and mingle with the best and brightest 18-and-unders our country has to offer and mix they did, from well before the first pitch until after the last.
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Team Canada players were out on the field during Blue Jays batting practice, taking ground balls with the pros, shagging fly balls and asking questions of the big-leaguers — soaking up an experience they hope becomes routine to them a few years down the road.
Dalton Pompey interviews brother Tristan
Mike Soroka, a tall 17-year-old righty out of Calgary who promises to be one of the top Canadians selected in the June draft, faced a Blue Jays lineup that had six players in it with big-league time, and he pitched a shutout first inning before being victimized by his defence in the second and allowing seven runs, only one of which was earned.
Soroka struck out Dalton Pompey and Matt Hague, and when his outing was done he came up to the broadcast booth to join me, Jerry Howarth and Junior Nats alumnus Joe Siddall with a huge smile on his face to rave about the experience and his outing against the pros.
Facing R.A. Dickey, the kids were really up against it, and no one on Team Canada made solid contact against the knuckleballer until the fourth inning save for catcher Andrew Yerzy, a 17-year-old who goes to York Mills Collegiate in Toronto and who ripped a double into the gap in left-centre in his first trip and walked in his next. He was the only Canadian Dickey couldn’t get out.
Finally, the Junior Nats put some hits together in the fourth. Kobe Hyland led off the inning with an infield single and moved up on a single by Josh Naylor, a terrific young power prospect who finished second in the Junior Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star Game last summer. Both runners moved up on a passed ball, one of two by Russell Martin. Tristan Pompey broke the shutout bid with an RBI groundout and after the Yerzy walk, Jean-Francois Garon singled in another run. Dickey retired the next four batters he faced in becoming the first Blue Jays pitcher to complete five innings this spring.
Things got silly after that, with minor-league call-ups Roemon Fields (keep an eye on him) and Jack Murphy belting three-run homers as the Blue Jays wound up winning by a couple of touchdowns, but the day was still a very good one for the young Canadians.
After the game, Baseball Canada Grand Poobah (head coach/manager/scout/recruiter/teacher/you name it) Greg Hamilton said: “The score aside, today’s experience for our players was tremendous and something that they will carry with them for a long time. They 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. This experience can be nothing but positive as they further their careers at the professional or collegiate level. A day like today is very important for Baseball Canada and we’re very thankful to the Blue Jays organization for their support.”
And really, that’s what it’s all about – furthering the careers of young, elite Canadian baseball players as they move on to college or the pros or both. It’s about growing the game north of the border and showing these kids first-hand that their dreams don’t have to be just dreams.
Martin and Pompey, both born in the GTA, were in the Blue Jays’ starting lineup – Pompey was playing against his younger brother for the first time and flied out to him to begin the bottom of the first – and as the game progressed, fellow Canadians Jeff Francis, Marcus Knecht, Justin Atkinson, Mike Reeves and Andrew Albers all made their way into the game for the Jays.
Sure, the final score wasn’t close, but it was a great day to celebrate Canadian baseball, and it’s becoming a tradition that one hopes can continue for a long time.