Australia had the better of the early frames, however Canada came home stronger to claim the final game of their pre-U18 World Cup series 10-5.
Ky Hampton, a right hander from South Australia threw three scoreless innings to begin the ballgame, striking out two and only allowing two hits. Hampton mixed his pitches well, consistently keeping the Canadian hitters off balance and had some solid defence behind him.
Jess Williams denied the Canadians the opening run of the ballgame with a slick play at shortstop. That momentum continued for the Australians, as they piled on four runs in the bottom of the first. Jarryd Dale’s base hit scored Williams, before Rixon Wingrove stepped up with bases loaded. The NSW Country representative put a deep fly ball gat the Canadian left fielder couldn’t handle, as all three baserunners scored.
Australian U18 Manager Steve Fish got what he needed to out of the eight game series.
“These games gave myself and the coaching staff a great indication of where we’re at,” Fish said.
“There’s no doubt we made several mistakes, but if we go about our business and do the little things right, we have a good chance.”
Western Australian catcher Alex Hall finished with two hits, while Mitch Edwards and Jarryd Dale both claimed a hit and an RBI apiece.
Canada opened the floodgates in the fifth inning, scoring all 10 of their runs in the final three frames to end the ballgame.
Australia opens their U18 World Cup campaign in Thunder Bay with a game against Korea on Friday 1 September at 1pm local time.