LHP Renaud Caron-Catellier made sure that Team Canada qualified for the World juniors.
Caron-Catellier (Montreal-Nord, Que.) pitched a 6-3 win over Puerto Rico, working eight strong innings at the World Cup qualifier in Villahermosa, Mex.
The win concludes round robin play and leaves Canada with a 5-2 record, good enough for third place. The top three teams, plus host Cuba advance to the 2006 World junior championships in Cuba.
The score was not really indicative of play, as the old saying goes. Canadians scored in the seventh.
Jonathan Prevost (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.) had two hits including a double, while Josue Peley (Montreal, Que.) also had a pair of hits and added a stolen base.
Kevin Atkinson (Surrey, B.C) knocked in a pair of runs in the seventh, while, Branson Joseph (Mississauga, Ont.), Nick Weglarz (Stevensville, Ont.) and Morgan Kielty (Burlington, Ont.) all drove in one run each.
Puerto Rico scored three in the ninth.
Canada faces Cuba in the semi-final, while Team USA plays Panama.
After winning four of six games on its warm-up tour in Atlanta, Canada flew to Mexico and ...
- Opened up with a 10-0 loss to Cuba as Phil Carey (London, Ont.) and Weglarz had Canada,s only two hits.
- Defeated Argentina 16-3 to move to 1-1, as 3B Jeff Cowan (Scarborough, Ont.) drove in five runs. LHP Justin Robinson (Langley, BC) registered the win, working 5 2/3 innings striking out six.
- Beat the host Mexico 6-1 as Weglarz homered and Caron-Catellier (Montreal-Nord, Que.) picked up the win thanks to six scoreless innings, as he allowed four hits. Sheldon McDonald (Spruce Grove, Alta.) threw two scoreless innings in relief.
- Lost 5-1 loss to Team USA as RHP Mark James (Whitby, Ont.) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings, as he struck out nine.
- Beat Brazil as McDonald got the win, while Keith Atkinson (Surrey, B.C.) had two doubles, which drove in two runs.
McDonald fanned five, allowing three three hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Kyle Orr (Victoria, B.C) drove in three runs with a double and a single.
- Thumped Panama 11-1 as Drew Parker (Surrey, B.C.) picked up the win with a complete-game seven-inning three hitter. Atkinson knocked in three runs, while Peley and Joseph each had a pair of hits.
