Third time's the charm? Canada has another USA matchup on deck

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Depending on your passport, it’s been a tough spring for Canada versus the United States.

Back in February at the Winter Olympics, the Canadian women’s hockey team lost the gold medal game to the United States, 2-1 in overtime. Three days later, the men’s team lost their gold medal game… to the United States… 2-1 in overtime. George Springer might still be celebrating that one.

It’s time for Round 3. For the first time in the national program’s history, Team Canada has advanced out of pool play at the World Baseball Classic.

Its reward for winning Pool A? A date with the United States, a baseball behemoth.

This is David versus Goliath, but let’s not forget what Ernie Clement said back in October when he was asked about the Blue Jays and Dodgers being its own version of David and Goliath.

“Didn’t David win?” Clement had said.

Now, Clement is on the other side of it, playing for Team USA. A Canadian win would immediately rank as one of the biggest moments in Canadian baseball history.

Manager John Schneider keeps getting sucked into the WBC, even more than he expected to. That includes a text to Clement, asking that he stop sliding head-first into first base, but Clement has never been good at downshifting. Schneider has backed off on the “smack talk” this time around, after proudly supporting Team Canada during Olympic hockey, but he’s still come away impressed with the upstart Canadians.

“I know that Canada seems to take the underdog mentality when it comes to baseball, but they’re grinders, man,” Schneider said. “I love that. It’s an awesome staff over there, too, with the guys they’ve assembled with Ernie. You’ve got Stubby [Clapp, Cardinals' first-base coach] and Russ [Martin]. [Cal] Quantrill is over there, too. It’s just great for the game.”

Canada punched its ticket with a 7-2 win over Cuba on Wednesday, but it really flipped Pool A with its 3-2 win over Puerto Rico the day prior. That was the same day Team USA lost 8-6 to Team Italy, and as we keep learning in new ways each day, anything can happen in the WBC.

“I think it’s awesome,” Schneider said. “I can’t wait to see Ernie Whitt try to out-manage [Mark] DeRosa. I think it’s great. Baseball in Canada has really come a long way. When you look at their lineup with the Naylor brothers, Tyler O’Neill, Otto Lopez, guys who have pretty significant big league time in their careers. Watching Cal [Quantrill] pitch was pretty cool. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”

Michael Soroka is expected to start for the Canadians against Logan Webb for Team USA. The Canadians are loaded with Blue Jays connections, too, throughout the coaching staff and onto the roster, where left-hander Adam Macko has been a key piece of Whitt’s bullpen.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET Friday night. Tune in to see which team wins 2-1 in extra innings.