Hatters drop opener at World Series
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on August 12, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken The Medicine Hat AAA All-Stars – also known as Team Canada – were dealt a 4-0 loss by Puerto Rico to open the Junior Little League World Series on Sunday in Taylor, Mich. Hat starter Kevan Schafer managed to hold his opponents to a scoreless stalemate through the first three innings, but Puerto Rico’s bats came alive with a three-run fourth. “It was a 4-0 loss but in the end we showed ourselves really well,” said Hat head coach Dean Harrison. “They held themselves really well. They played our game – they played some defence, we had some good pitching.” Henry Clausell put Puerto Rico on the board with an RBI sac fly, then Nathan Martinez drove in two more on an RBI double two batters later. Schafer left the mound after allowing three runs on five hits and two walks over the first 3 2/3 innings. Trevin Ressler entered in relief of Schafer and escaped the fourth. While Ressler put up a clean fifth, Puerto Rico managed to tack on an insurance run in the sixth on another RBI double from Martinez. “(Puerto Rico) is a big, strong team and the boys, I think, were a little intimidated when we first stepped on,” said Harrison. “But then after the first couple of innings … our boys started playing how we play baseball.” Caleb Garrecht closed out the game for Medicine Hat with a perfect seventh, but his bats were unable to close the gap in the final frame. Ressler, Schafer and Jeff Bullock were the only Hatters to register a hit in the setback. Carlos Ortiz collected the victory for Puerto Rico after holding the Canadian champs to just one hit over the first 3 1/3 innings. Ortiz also struck out three. Puerto Rico used five arms in the victory, and Harrison says each threw harder than the last. While it left his hitters feeling the nerves, the Hat coach says he was impressed with their ability to stay within arm’s reach against a perennial powerhouse. “Puerto Rico is a potential favourite every year that they come here, so to hold them to four runs – I wish we could have pushed across a couple when we had the opportunity – but I think our boys really believe now that we’re here and we’re here for a reason,” he said. “They just played against a team that plays baseball 12 months a year. They are smooth baseball players. You can tell they take thousands of reps, and they’re big and strong and fast. That’s just something they’ve never seen before.” Harrison added the confidence-building setback shares a few similarities with their loss to Quebec at the Canadian Junior Little League Championship. After falling to the undefeated squad 11-10 in the group stage, Medicine Hat rallied to steal a 6-5 walk-off win in the semifinals before riding their momentum all the way to the World Series. “We played (Quebec) once, proved that we could play with them and kind of got going through the tournament after that,” said Harrison. “Now they’ve played against some of the best kids in the world here, so it’s really good for them.” Medicine Hat returns to action in a must-win game Tuesday against either Latin America, Australia or Asia-Pacific at 9 a.m. It’s a tough spot, but after rallying to take the Canadian crown with three consecutive victories in must-win games, Harrison says the All-Stars are still feeling confident. “We’re in that same boat now. Every game is an elimination game,” said Harrison. “They do have some consolation games on the other side, so I think if we don’t pull it out we’ll get another game against somebody else.” Harrison added the team has been “soaking it all in since (they) landed,” in Michigan, and they’ll likely use their rest day to do a bit of sightseeing while also conducting some research on their upcoming opponent. “It’s been pretty crazy, pretty hectic,” said Harrison. “The boys have been getting lots of swag and they’ve been walking around meeting kids. It’s been a really great experience for them.” 20-19
