Chilliwack Cougars baseball grad Cade Smith helped his 10th ranked Canadian crew finish fourth at the World Baseball Confederation U-18 World Cup.
The 12 team tournament was held Sept. 1-10 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Smith pitched three times out of the bullpen for the overachieving Canadians, taking the mound for the first time in a 7-6 win over Chinese Taipei. Nerves may have contributed to a rough outing for the teenager, who walked three batters, hit another and allowed two runs (one earned) over 1.1 innings.
The Minnesota Twins draft pick was much better in his next outing, picking up a save vs Australia in an 8-2 Canadian win.
The righty pitched three innings and allowed just one run. He faced 12 batters and got two on strikeouts. He induced three groundouts and three flyballs and felt good heading into his next outing vs the United States.
Smith pitched another three innings vs the Americans in an 8-3 loss.
Five runs crossed the plate while he was on the mound, but only one was earned as the defence behind him struggled. Smith battled his control, walking four and hitting one. But he also fanned four.
The University of Hawaii rookie finished the tournament with an earned-run average of 3.68 over 7.1 innings, with eight walks vs seven strikeouts.
Overall, Canada went 3-2 in group play and 5-4 overall, losing 8-1 to Japan in the bronze-medal game.