March 12, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
For the first time in their history, Canada has advanced to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals after they defeated Cuba 7-2 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on Wednesday.
Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) started and pitched five outstanding innings and Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) had three hits – including a home run – to propel Canada to the victory.
With the win, Canada (3-1) also clinched top spot in Pool A.
They will now play the U.S. in a quarterfinals matchup on Friday at 8 p.m. E.T. at Daikin Park in Houston.
“We’re extremely proud that we’re moving forward,” said Ernie Whitt, Canada’s manager after the game. “It took us a long time to do it. We now have some real good positional players. We have some real good arms out there that are performing for us to move forward. I’m excited about that.”
Hitting in the leadoff spot for the first time in the tournament, Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) had two hits for Canada, including a clutch two-run single in the sixth inning.
But the star of the game was Quantrill, who, in a do-or-die contest, allowed just two hits and one unearned run and struck out five in five innings to earn the win. In the process, he became just the second Canadian pitcher to throw five innings in a WBC game. Noah Skirrow (Cambridge, Ont.) tossed five innings in his win over Colombia at the 2023 WBC.
After the game, Quantrill said he felt confident on the mound with the team behind him.
“I certainly wasn’t going to allow walks to dictate this game,” he said.
His plan was to attack hitters and to allow his defence to work their magic.
Canada’s bullpen also excelled. After Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Adam Macko (Stony Plain, Alta.) combined to pitch the sixth inning, veteran James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) took over in the seventh. The veteran left-hander, who retired from his major league career after the 2024 season, proceeded to strike out out six batters in 2 2/3 scoreless innings to register a hold.
Left-hander Livan Moinelo started for Cuba and permitted one unearned run in 3 2/3 innings and was saddled with the loss. Moinelo was replaced by Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Yariel Rodriguez in the fourth inning.
Canada opened the scoring in the third. With one out, Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Toro hit back-to-back singles. They advanced to second and third on a passed ball by Cuban catcher Andrys Perez before Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) cashed in O’Neill with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 1-0.
Two innings later, Toro belted a two-out, solo home run off Rodriguez to make it 2-0.
Cuba responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth. First baseman Yoel Yanqui walked to lead off the inning. Quantrill then threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt and Yanqui advanced all the way to third and scored on a grounder by Yoelkis Guibert.
But Canada countered with three runs in the sixth. Matt Davidson led off and reached first after Cuban second baseman Yiddi Cappe dropped a routine fly ball. Davidson then advanced two bases on a wild pitch and Bo Naylor doubled to right to score Davidson.
Denzel Clarke then reached first on catcher’s interference and stole second. Lopez followed with a single through the left side of the infield that plated Naylor and Clarke to make it 5-1.
Cuba scored its second run in the bottom of the sixth when centre fielder Roel Santos drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to third on a Yoan Moncada double. Ariel Martinez followed with a single that scored Santos.
Canada added an insurance run in the eighth when Lopez drew a two-out walk and crossed the plate after Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) flared a fly ball to left that Martinez failed to make a sliding catch on.
Canada collected their seventh run in the ninth when Toro hit a fly ball that dropped in front of Martinez for a double. Caissie then drove him in with a single to right.
It was a historic win for Canada, one that propels them into the second round of the World Baseball Classic for the first time.
“The team has really come together,” said Whitt after the game. “We’ve gelled . . . As far as the organization is concerned and representing our country, you couldn’t ask for more. We’re very excited from the top all the way down to the bottom. It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of phone calls, but we’re going one more step, and we’re not done with that.”
Quantrill was also savoring the momentous victory after the game.
“Everyone says it, but it’s just such an honour to represent your country, to be with this group,” he said. “A lot of these guys I’ve played with, played against, but we’ve always shared something special. I think we came here, and we knew that we had a special team, and we wanted to prove we both belong on the international stage, but we’re capable of taking the next step, and I think we did that . . . Such a cool moment for Canada baseball, for a lot of guys that have been here for a long time.
“We’ve got people in our training room and our equipment managers who have been doing this for 30, 40 years. I think to be able to see the smile on their face and know that we were able to give them something special is pretty cool.”
Quantrill added that he hopes the victory inspires young Canadians.
“We’re not here for a participation ribbon,” he said. “We’re here to compete and play ball and win against the best countries in the world.”
Canada at WBC stats updates
-With his five RBIs in this year’s WBC, Caissie has a Canadian record nine RBIs in WBC play. The record prior to this year’s WBC was seven held by Michael Saunders (Victoria, B.C.). It should be noted that Toro also has five RBIs in this year’s WBC and Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) has two, so they each now have eight RBIs in WBC play to also put them ahead of Saunders.
-Caissie and Toro each have three doubles in this year’s WBC which equals the Canadian record for most doubles in a single WBC. Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.) had three doubles in each of the 2006 and 2013 WBCs and Saunders had three doubles in 2013.
-With seven hits each in this WBC, Caissie and Toro are just one behind Saunders’ (2013) and Tyler O’Neill’s (2023) record for most hits in a single WBC.
-Toro now has 12 hits in WBC play. This moves him into second place all-time among Canadian hitters. He is three behind Morneau for most hits by a Canadian in WBC play.
-Toro and Bo Naylor each have four runs in this year’s WBC. The record for most runs by a Canadian in a single WBC is five held by Jason Bay (2006), Joey Votto (2013), O’Neill (2023) and Edouard Julien (2023).
-As noted earlier, Quantrill became just the second Canadian pitcher to throw five innings in a WBC game. The only other pitcher to do so was Noah Skirrow (Cambridge, Ont.) against Colombia in 2023.
-Skirrow pitched three innings in Canada’s win over Colombia in this year’s WBC opener. With that, Skirrow has logged eight innings for Canada in WBC play, leaving him 1/3 of an inning behind Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) for most WBC innings pitched by a Canadian.
-Paxton has eight strikeouts at this year’s WBC, which is not only a single-tournament record for Canadians, but also the most any Canadian has registered all-time in WBC play. Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) and Albers held the previous record with seven strikeouts in WBC play.
-Paxton’s six strikeouts against Cuba on Wednesday tied a record for most strikeouts by a Canadian in a single WBC game with Erik Bedard (Navan, Ont.) who fanned six against South Africa in 2006.
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