A first-inning grand slam by Greg Wallace and a three-run homer by local product Brooklyn Foster kept Canada's title hopes alive and knocked the Bahamas out of the World Baseball Challenge.
In a Friday afternoon playoff game at Citizen Field, the Canadian bats came alive in a 13-1 win that required only seven innings because of the mercy rule. Canada advanced to face Toshiba Japan at 11 a.m. today. The winner will move on to a 7 p.m. semifinal against Chinese Taipei (?????). The reward for a semifinal victory is a date with Cuba (?????) in the championship final Sunday at 3 p.m.
In Canada's Friday win, Bahamas pitcher Marcus Holbert walked the first three batters he faced and Wallace -- with his fourth home run of the tournament -- promptly cashed them in.
After the Bahamas scored a single run in the top of the third inning, Canada responded with three in the bottom half and was out to a 7-1 lead. Later, with Canada ahead 10-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, and with Mark Ellis and Jared Johnson aboard, Foster stepped up to the dish and took an offering from pitcher Desmond Russell over the wall.
"I was just trying to score that final run to give us the 10-run lead [to bring the mercy rule into effect]," said the 20-year-old Foster, who was born in Prince George and lived here until he was 11. "The first pitch, I saw a fastball and things worked out."
The home run was Foster's first at Citizen Field.
"The game was kind of done long before that but it felt good to end it on that note," said Foster, whose grandparents, Audrey and Wally, were both in attendance at the time. Unfortunately, only Audrey saw the blast.
"Grandpa was in the bathroom -- he was pretty upset he missed it," Foster said with a chuckle.
Foster finished the contest with two hits and four RBIs.
After a 2-0 start in the six-team WBC -- including a 13-7 win against the Bahamas in its opening game -- Canada had suffered back-to-back losses to Cuba (9-4) and Toshiba Japan (14-3). Friday's first-inning grand slam by Wallace was exactly what the Canadians needed to get the positive vibes flowing again.
"Wallace has been a beast all tournament," Foster said. "Starting the game like that kind of took the edge off and allowed our guys to just keep going. It kind of took the worry out of everyone and we were just able to play for seven innings."
Pitcher Dustin Northcott went the distance for Canada and gave up just three hits. The lone Bahamas run was unearned.
Holbert, who was pulled in favour of David Sweeting after the first inning, took the loss. Bahamas pitchers allowed 13 Canadian hits.
Foster and his teammates are looking forward to a shot at redemption against Toshiba Japan today.
"We've got a tough game coming up next, Japan, and we owe them something, that's for sure," Foster said. "They smacked us pretty good and that wasn't too exciting. I'm focused on [today] now. It's going to be a big one and we've got a lot to prove."
