In the Wick of time

Rowan Wick has ensured Team Canada will play for a medal at the World Junior Baseball Championships.

The Milwaukee Brewers draft pick slammed a pair of two-run homers at Port Arthur Stadium on Friday night, powering Canada to an easy 11-1 quarterfinal win over Team Italy, setting up a Saturday date with Chinese-Taipei for the right to play for gold.

Designated hitter Philip Diedrick had yet another big blow, a three-run double in the first, upping his RBI total to 10 as the tournament hit the one-week mark.

Brandon Dailey sealed the win with a solo shot to left to start the seventh, kicking in the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.

“It felt great,” said a painfully shy Wick, who did a brief interview before the television cameras, but declined to speak to other media.

It was a far cry from their last paper mismatch, Wednesday’s round-robin finale that required the ninth inning heroics of Dalton Pompey to secure an 8-7 win over the Czech Republic.

Getting started early – a five run first will do that – was key, said Canadian manager Greg Hamilton.

“That was a key,” he said. “You want to get out early, you want to take away any life that they might have or any enthusiasm that they might have out of the equation. I was real happy to be able to do that. It makes it a whole lot easier when you get some runs on the board early.”

Ditto, said Canadian starter Jonathan Paquet, after giving up just four hits and one run over six innings, striking out nine Italian batters along the way.

Paquet spotted the Italians a 1-0 lead in the first, when Davide Benetti singled home lead-off hitter Mirco Caradonna, then settled in to watch his own side pile it on in their half of the inning. His confidence grew considerably, he said.

“It’s always easier when you know the offensive guys behind you are there to help you. You can make more mistakes and you’re not in trouble. Still, you try to do the same job to make it easy,” he said.

If they hadn’t learned their lesson against the Czechs, the Canadians had it reinforced earlier on Friday, when Cuba edged the United States 3-2 and then in true upset fashion, Australia knocked off the two-time defending champion South Koreans.

Hamilton said there was no way his team wanted to be upset No. 3 of the day.

“You’ve got to be ready to play. It’s international baseball, it’s a one-game shot and on a given night, if you’re not ready, somebody will get you. Those were good ballgames ... When you get down to the end, teams are there for a reason. They can play,” Hamilton said.

Taking on 4-1 Chinese-Taipei certainly won’t be a walk in the ballpark, he cautioned.

“They don’t necessarily fit the North American view of physicality, but they can play the game. They’re pretty tough. They can pitch and they do the little things right on the field and they’ll pick you apart offensively, so we’ve got to be ready to play.”

Wick and company had some pre-tournament experience with the Asian team, and the outcome wasn’t in Canada’s favour.

“They’re a really good team. They beat us. We have momentum right now and hopefully we can come through and beat them tomorrow,” he said.

Another performace like Friday’s would go a long way to ensuring that goal is achieved.

One batter after Diedrick cleared the bases in the first with a double to right centre off Italian starter Andrea Zambelloni, Wick stepped to the plate and smacked a 1-1 pitch down the line in right that just cleared the fence, putting Canada up 5-1.

Dalton Pompey added another in the fourth, singling home Jimmy Ralph. The next inning Wick was at it again, this time going deep on Italian reliever Yomil Rivera, who took over to start the inning.

Up by seven, they didn’t let up in the sixth, scoring twice more on a Justin Atkinson double, but they had to settle for a nine-run lead, knowing they’d come to bat at least one more time, even if they held the Italians.

Reliever Joel Pierce did just that, surrendering a two-out single to Mattia Mercuri before retiring CF Guiseppe Sellaroli to end the inning.

Dailey ended it in a hurry, crushing the third pitch he saw from the Italians third pitcher, Alessandro Tiberi, over the fence in left to secure the win.

The Italian team refused interviews after the game.

The Cubans will play Australia in the matinee semifinal at 2 p.m., while Canada and Chinese-Taipei take the field at 7 p.m.

The winners will meet in Sunday’s final, the losers will play for bronze.