Manitoba

2019 Baseball Canada Cup – Team Nova Scotia Downs Manitoba in Another Nail-Biter

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At 8:00 AM Saskatchewan time on Thursday morning (August 8) the Nova Scotia 17U Selects faced Team Manitoba for the second game of their schedule at the 2019 Baseball Canada Cup.

Taking the mound for Team Nova Scotia was Duncan McLaughlin. Things got off to a great start as McLaughlin struck out 1 and induced two fly outs in the first inning. In the second inning the first batter doubled his way on, McLaughlin struck out the next, and the third batter of the inning singled to set up a 1st and 3rd situation. Nova Scotia put on a play to deal with this situation in case of a steal but when it happened, they didn’t execute it properly and the error allowed the runner to score to put Manitoba up 1 to 0. McLaughlin then closed out the inning with a fly out and a strike out, but the damage was done and NS was in catchup mode.

Manitoba Pitcher Tyler Smith kept NS in check for the first three innings, allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks. However, in the 4th inning, Nova Scotia mounted a comeback. Camden Rendell led off the inning with a single. A couple of Manitoba errors put Michael Short and Camilo Riesgo on as well. With the bases loaded, Rendell scored on a Wild Pitch and the other two runners advanced. Layton Cuvilier then grounded to 3rd and Short was thrown out at home. With Left Fielder Ryan Fitzgerald then up, Cuvilier stole second base and Riesgo scored on the throw down. With NS now up 2 to 1, Fitzgerald hit a line drive to Left Field to score Cuvilier. The inning ended on a fly out to right.

McLaughlin continued to hold Manitoba in check all the way to the end of the 5th inning, but in the top of the 6th, they started to mount a comeback of their own. Jordan Lussier led off the inning with an infield single. Dawson Tanner roped a hard line drive past a diving Fitzgerald for a Triple, scoring Lussier. With the score now 3 to 2 with the tying run on 3rd, NS brought in their closer Timmy Mann. Mann kept the Manitoba hitters off balance with a mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches, inducing three outs without allowing Tanner to score from 3rd.

In the 7th, Nova Scotia was not able to score so Mann came back to the mound with a 1 run lead. He struck out the first batter looking and then induced a flyout to Left. With two outs Deagan Morcom ripped a Triple to straight-away Center. With the tying run on 3rd, Mann induced a flyout to Center to end the game and clinch the win for NS.

Duncan McLaughlin is credited with the win. He had 5 strikeouts, 0 walks, and spread 8 hits over 5 innings, giving up 1 Earned Run.

Timmy Mann is credited with the Save. He had 1 strikeout and gave up only 1 walk and 1 hit in 2 innings of work. Mann was also awarded the Player of the Game.

Camden Randell led the offensive attack for Nova Scotia with two hits. Ryan Fitzgerald chipped in with an RBI single. Those were the only hits that Nova Scotia had in this big win.

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“If I Only Had a Cast” – Canadian Corey Koskie writes about the concussion that ended his MLB career

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If you are like me, you remember that Corey Koskie is a Canadian baseball player that made it to the MLB with Minnesota and had a few pretty good years there. You may even remember that the Blue Jays signed him as a free agent and later traded him to the Brewers. What you may not remember (actually, that was probably just me not remembering) is that Koskie’s MLB career ended abruptly on July 5, 2006 after a concussion on what initially looked like a pretty innocent fielding play.

Koskie recently posted an article on his website linklete.com about the challenges he faced after that concussion and how it ultimately ended his MLB career. At the end of the article he provides some advise to anyone dealing with or helping someone deal with concussion symptoms.

The biggest mistake I made was pushing through the symptoms until I got sick. This might of (sic) played into the length of my recovery. It took me a long time to talk to somebody about what I was going through, I tried to burden the weight of my injury alone.  I was embarrassed and ashamed of how I felt inside. I looked ok, most of the time, but I wasn’t.

Koskie’s article is well worth a few minutes of your time. Check it out