Canada advances to wild card tournament...

SAN JOSE, Cuba (CP) - Canada's Olympic baseball hopes are still alive.

The team advanced to the final qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Games after a 3-1 win over Nicaragua at the Americas qualifier Tuesday. The win guaranteed Canada a fourth-place finish at the tournament and a berth in a wild-card qualifying event in Taiwan. A date for the tournament has not been set. Cuba and the United States were awarded automatic Olympic berths by virtue of finishing first and second in the tournament while third-place Mexico will also move on to the wild-card tournament.

The U.S. defeated Cuba 8-5 in the gold-medal game.

Mike Saunders of Victoria (pictured, #20) was 2-for-4 Tuesday with a pair of RBIs to lead Canada's offence while Canadian starter Chris Begg of Uxbridge, Ont., struck out five and allowed just one walk through 6 1-3 innings.

Mike Kusiewicz of Ottawa and Mike Johnson of Edmonton were solid in relief, combining to allow one hit over the final 2 2-3 innings. Johnson was credited with the save.

At the wild-card tournament, eight teams will compete for the three final spots at the Olympics.

© The Canadian Press 2006

Congratulations to Michael (the youngest player on Team Canada by more than three years) and the rest of the team! They have an excellent chance to qualify in Taiwan.