Canadian Trail: Baseball thriller caps Day 9
Canada beats U.S. for gold on wild extra-innings finish
Curt Harnett's voice was raspy, so he was trying to take it easy over the weekend. He hiked up and down the stairs at Varsity Stadium, tossing pins into the crowd at the Pan American Games archery competition, in between waving a huge Canadian flag.
But Canada's chef de mission — and the team's head cheerleader — was otherwise keeping quiet.
"Still able to talk [barely], which is a good thing," Harnett said. "I hit it hard. Of course water polo started on the Wednesday before the opening ceremonies, and I kind of maybe overdid it a little bit.
"I've had a couple of days where I've tried to stay quiet, and the crowd's doing their job. But I can't contain myself, I'm emotionally invested in all of this, the success of our athletes is important to me as a person, it's a sense of pride that I can't seem to shake."
A little over a week into the Pan American Games, there has been plenty of reason to be proud and vocal.
Canada topped the medal table through most of Week 1 before falling to second Saturday night. The United States leads with 59 gold and 160 total medals.
Canada defends baseball title
But Canada stayed with the U.S. in the gold medal standings. The host nation boosted its gold-medal total to 54 on Sunday, capping Day 9 with a wild 7-6, 10-inning win over the United States in the men's baseball final.
BREAKING: David Huff's throwing error lets 2 runs score, CAN walks off with a 7-6 win in the 10th <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBCPanAm?src=hash">#CBCPanAm</a> <a href="http://t.co/AZszqnenbJ">http://t.co/AZszqnenbJ</a>
—@cbcsportsCanada's defence of its 2011 baseball title looked in doubt as it trailed 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 10th. That's when the Americans completely collapsed.
U.S. pitcher David Huff tried to pick off Canada's Pete Orr at first base, but his throw went into right field to score Skyler Stromsmoe. The U.S. right-fielder's throw to third then went wide, allowing Orr to score the winning run as the Canadians beat the Americans for Pan Am gold for the second straight Games.
In all Canada won 20 medals Sunday to sit second overall with 142 (54 gold, 48 silver, 40 bronze).
Multiple 1-2 finishes
Evan Dunfee started things off with gold in the men's 20-kilometre race walk. His teammate Inaki Gomez captured the silver.
Canada had another 1-2 finish in the women's track cycling sprint, with Monique Sullivan defeating fellow Calgary cyclist Kate O'Brien in the final. Canada finished the day with five total medals in track cycling, while Sullivan became the first Canadian cyclist to win three gold medals at a Pan Am competition.
BREAKING: CAN Monique Sullivan beats CAN Kate O'Brien in track cycling sprint. Canada wins gold and silver <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBCPanAm?src=hash">#CBCPanAm</a> <a href="http://t.co/InHAmpwtnJ">http://t.co/InHAmpwtnJ</a>
—@cbcsports"That's pretty cool, I didn't even know that," Sullivan said of her historic achievement. "Canada has had a pretty strong history in sprinting in general and those people did it more as individuals who stood up and stood out.
"Now we're showing a program where we're doing it together and it's a group effort so hopefully we'll see more consistency."
Jazmyne Denhollander paddled to gold in the women's K1 whitewater kayak, leading a four-medal day for Canada in canoeing and kayaking slalom events.
Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan defended her Pan Am title in women's trampoline, with Canadian teammate Karen Cockburn winning bronze. Canada swept the golds when Keegan Soehn won the men's competition.
Canada will get the chance to try for at least one more gold on Monday. Canada's women's basketball team routed Brazil 91-63 Sunday to set up a gold-medal showdown with the Americans.