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By Chris Kemlo
Director of Scouting

We look to bring the Ontario top-notch baseball coverage throughout the entire province.

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PBR Ontario Spotlight Game: Ontario Blue Jays vs Toronto Mets

Ajax - Last night in PBR Ontario’s spotlight game of the day, we saw a pitching duel between the Ontario Blue Jays and Toronto Mets in 18u CPBL action. Walters State commit and potential MLB draft prospect RJ Freure was on the hill for the Jays, going up against left-hander Niall Windeler who is committed to University of British Columbia.

The two starters threw up zero’s early on as they matched each other through the first four innings. Freure was dominant, working mostly with a combination of fastball and curveball to record eight punchouts in the first four innings. Windeler stayed right with Freure, striking out six in the first four innings, using both sides of the plate with solid command.

The Mets opened up the scoring in the fifth after a leadoff walk, followed by a two out walk brought U of Charleston commit Ethan Hunt to the plate as he drove a ball into right-centre for a double to give the home team a 2-0 lead.

Things stayed that way until the seventh where a leadoff single by uncommitted 2017 Owen Jansen, followed by a double by third baseman George Farid had runners at second and third with none out. A sac fly by Tanner Zeggil made it 2-1 and then Windeler was able to strand the last runner at third to keep the score at 2-1 and finish his day with seven strong innings.

2017 uncommitted grad Jonah Offman came in for the Mets in the eighth and quickly had to work around some trouble as a leadoff single to Nick Howie, followed by a sacrifice bunt that saw Howie with heads up baserunning go first-to-third. With the infield drawn in, Offman induced a ground ball to keep Howie at third. Blue jays then brought in their left-handed slugger Ryan Rijo to pinch hit while the Mets countered with lefty Dj Depiero. It didn’t matter because a passed ball saw Howie come into tie the score at 2-2.

The score stayed that way as both teams had chances to score late in the ballgame as great defensive plays and both bullpens stepped up to continue to keep the score tied at two’s. After 9 complete innings, extras were needed and it wasn’t until the bottom of the 12th when with two out, Cuyahoga commit Matt Hilderbrandt took a 1-0 fastball over the fence in right-centre for the walk-off win.

Overall it was a fantastic ballgame by both teams, strong pitching, baserunning, sound defensive plays, and superb work out of the bullpen by all involved. Was a treat to watch and another reminder of the talent and quality that is up here in Ontario.

Top Performers on the Day

• Rj Freure - 6 IP, 12 K’s, 2 ER, 2 BB’s
• Niall Windeler - 7 IP, 8 K’s, 1 ER, 0 BB’s
• Cooper Lamb - 4 for 5, 2B, SB
• Nick Howie - 2 for 6, SB, R
• George Farid - 2 for 4, HBP
• Ethan Hunt - 2 for 6, 2B, 2 RBIs
• CJ Yoannou - 1 for 4, 2B, BB, Run scored
• Connor Lipinski - 2 for 5

Linescore

Ontario Blue Jays  000 000 110 000 - 2 9 0
Toronto Mets         000 020 000 001 - 3 10 0

Winning pitcher - Kyle Smyth, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER