Canada beat Venezuela 7-5 in 10 innings today at the COPABE Olympic Qualifiers in Cuba.
The winning blow was a 2-run homer from backup catcher Emerson Frostad (a Rangers prospect) in the top of the 10th. Canada are now 2-1, having beaten Puerto Rico 6-5 (thanks to more late heroics; a four-run ninth-inning comeback) and lost their opener 9-3 to the U.S.
David Corrente (Dunedin) started at catcher for Canada and went 0-3; Pete LaForest led the offense with a 3-3 day including a walk and a bomb. Mike Johnson took the win after Eric Cyr had started; Horacio Estrada started and threw 135 pitches for Venezuela in the tropical heat of an August afternoon in Havana. Ow ow ow ow.
There are two more games in this round. Canada currently is tied for second in its six-team group with Mexico with 2-1 records (Mexico is currently getting pummelled 14-3 by the U.S., who lead the group at 3-0). The Canadians play Mexico tomorrow and Brazil on Wednesday; the top four teams in each group will move on to a further round-robin final group, with the top two teams qualifying for Beijing (baseball's last Olympics ever) and two others getting a chance in a second qualifying tournament.
You can follow the action (including live updates, though these are sometimes intermittent) through the IBAF's website at www.baseball.ch. Yes, I know, the site design is terrible.
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