Canada wins Pan Am baseball gold in dramatic fashion over American rivals

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As the ballpark was nearly empty long after Canada's baseball team won its second straight Pan Am gold medal, celebrated with family and friends and posed for photos with fans, a small celebratory Canadian flag planted in the infield grass was still flapping in the breeze.

For the second time in four years, Canada beat the United States in the gold medal baseball game at the Pan Am Games, but this time it was on home soil, shared with an ecstatic Canadian crowd.

Canada overcame an early three-run lead by the U.S. and then brought in three runs in a wild tenth inning action under international tie-breaking rules, to win 7-6 and take the Gold . It was accomplished by a collection of Canadian minor league journeymen and youngsters, along with their American manager Ernie Whitt, a former Toronto Blue Jay who has come to consider himself Canadian at heart after repeatedly committing to lead Team Canada since 1999.

This Canadian team was made up of players not included on any 40-man Major League roster. There were some from independent leagues or those who felt comfortable leaving their minor league teams for a few weeks because they weren't likely to get a Big League call anytime soon.  Some are nearing the end of their careers, while others are just starting out or still battling to get noticed. They all celebrated in one jubilant pile after Team Canada veteran Peter Orr slid into home for the dramatic winning run.

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"It was weird when we all came together at first, because I'm 36 and some of these guys are in their early 20's -- I was playing professionally when some of these guys were in kindergarten," said Orr, who has been back and forth between the minor and major leagues for 16 pro seasons. "We told everyone to feel they could be themselves, and they really opened up. We've had a great time; it's been really special."

Delta, B.C's Jeff Francis started on the hill for Canada, a 34-year-old pitcher now in the Blue Jays system, whose career peaked in 2007 as a member of the Colorado Rockies, when he pitched more than 200 innings and became the first Canadian pitcher to nab a post-season win and the second to throw in the World Series.

The U.S., full of momentum after their dramatic semi-final win over Cuba on Saturday, jumped out to a fast 3-0 lead when a Francis curveball was drilled over the right field fence for a two-run shot, and another sacrifice fly silenced the crowd loaded with waving Canadian flags.

But Canada wasn't long tying it up on a heroic three-run shot by 29-year-old Torontonian Rene Tosoni, a right-fielder who made his last Big League appearance in 2011, and now plays Independent Pro Ball for the Sioux City Explorers.

Then in the fifth, a long sacrifice fly by Jordan Lennerton brought in Team Canada veteran Peter Orr to take a 4-3 lead, a man in the twilight of his career. The U.S tied it in the seventh, as the Americans in the crowd bellowed along with "Born in the USA" being played over the loud speaker.

Andrew Albers of North Battleford, Saskatchewan replaced him in the eighth, a pitcher who has played in the minor leagues and in Korea, now battling for the Jays' AAA affiliate in Buffalo in the hopes of a shot with Toronto.

He pitched two scoreless innings until Christopher Leroux entered in the tenth to battle under the unconventional international extra-innings rules of opening the frame with runners at first and second and trying to score as many as possible. It provided dramatics.

The U.S scored two off a drive to left field by Tyler Pastornicky to make it 6-4. Then when Canada came to bat, Orr muscled a hit to centre, which scored Tyson Gillies. Then U.S. pitcher David Huff tried to pick off Orr at first base but overthrew into right field, so Skyler Stromsmoe scored. Then the right-fielder's throw to third was also overthrown, allowing Orr to dash in for the winning run.

"We've been through the tiebreak thing before. I don't like it, but it is what it is, and we try to execute it.," said Whitt. "The first gold medal was great; this one on home soil felt even better."

It was the end of a tournament in which Canada asserted itself in the sport. They were first in round robin play with a 4-1 record, riding the dominant arms of their veteran pitchers.  There were passionate homers from guys like 26-year-old Gillies of Vancouver, a centre fielder who grew up with a hearing impairment, and overcame it with hearing aids and by learning to read lips. There was the dominant 7-1 thumping of Puerto Rico in the semi-finals behind Phillippe Aumont's eight innings of shutout pitching, a 6-foot-7 hurler still trying to make the most of his shot in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system.

Many players expressed the hope that this propels the popularity of the sport in Canada.

"We know how important Baseball Canada's program is, and we try to put back into it what we get out of it," said Francis. "We know if we can give the program some notoriety, it can continue and keep producing prospects. To repeat, and to do it at home, was special, and hopefully Canadian kids were watching."

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