He was as lonely as Bob Denver, without Ginger and Mary Ann.
Kyle Gilligan (Toronto, Ont.) hit a triple and knocked in the only run with a ninth-inning single to stand as an island amongst for Team Canada hitters.
The Canucks dropped a 12-1 decision to the Detroit Tigers instructional team at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The loss for Baseball Canada’s National Junior team ended their fall trip. Now, coach Greg Hamilton (Ottawa, Ont.) and his staff will examine, evaluate and decide on who moves on as Canada readies for its spring training trip April 13 and then the 2006 World Junior championships next summer in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.
Canada qualified for the worlds with a win earlier in Mexico with a bronze medal finish. However, another year -- 2006 -- and Hamilton has to pick a new team.
The purpose of playing first and second-year pros is play above your competition level so it makes it easier when Canada goes against teams with players the same exact age.
Jonathan Waltenbury (Bowmanville, Ont.) was Canada’s best hitter hitting a double off the fence and singling against Atlanta Braves’ right-hander Kyle Davies. Davies was 7-6 in 21 games for Atlanta, 14 of them starts.
Davies was instructional league, as the Braves had plans on activating him for the National League Championship Series had they beaten the Houston Astros.
Kyle Orr (Victoria, BC) and Gilligan were two of the more impressive hitters, while RHP Phillippe Aumont ( Gatineau, Que.) and RHP David Francis (Mississauga, Ont.) were the best on the mound.
Shane Davis (Belmont, Ont.), Mehdi Djebbar (Montréal, Qué.) and Francis each allowed a pair of earned runs, as only half of Detroit’s 12 runs were earned.
The Tigers led off the game with a home run to deep right-centre and added a second run, thanks in part to a Canadian error, to take a 2-0 lead. Canada managed to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom half of the inning, but couldn’t capitalize.
Canada didn’t score until the bottom of the ninth as Dave Narodowski (Vancouver, BC) walked, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Gilligan’s infield single.
Besides the triple by Gilligan, Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, BC), Orr and Waltenbury had up one hit apiece.
Besides seeing some of the best the best prospects with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Braves, the junior also played against Team Canada grads: C Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ont.), of the Tigers; RF Nick Weglarz (Stevensville, Ont.), of the Indians, C Cole Armstrong (Surrey, BC) and RHP Jamey Richmond (Mississauga, Ont.), of the Braves.
OF Adam Parliament (Penticton, BC) also played for the Braves against Canada.
