Team Canada won its first game on Tuesday at the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 baseball tournament in Seoul, South Korea. In a phenomenal pitching performance by Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada defeated Cuba 3-0.
Aumont threw eight innings and only gave up two hits. He had nine strikeouts compared to only one walk. It was also a strong pitching performance by Scott Mathieson of Vancouver, British Columbia, who had a ninth inning save. Both Aumont and Mathieson pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in their Major League Baseball careers.
Team Canada got on the scoreboard for the first time in the fourth inning. Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders of Victoria, British Columbia had a game winning RBI single which scored Eric Wood of Toronto, Ontario, who led off the inning with a double.
Then in the eighth inning, Canada scored twice on bases loaded walks. Canada went up 2-0 as Tristan Pompey of New Westminster, British Columbia scored Winnipeg Goldeyes shortstop Wesley Darvill of Richmond, British Columbia. Then Canada went up 3-0 as former Minnesota Twins outfielder Rene Tosoni of Toronto, Ontario walked and scored Wood.
A major reason for the Canadian victory came down to walks. Cuban pitchers walked nine Canadian batters, while Canadian pitchers only had one walk.
Canada has two more games in Group C. They play South Korea and Australia on Thursday. They need to finish in the top two in their pool to advance to the super round.
The tournament is used as an Olympic qualifier. The top team from the Americas and the top team from Asia/Oceania qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
