It was a golden ending to the baseball season for Kyle Lotzkar.
The 21-year-old pitcher from Tsawwassen helped Canada make history at the Pan American Games in Mexico with a 2-1 victory over the United States in the gold medal game on Tuesday night. The result marks the first time Canada has won gold at a major international baseball event.
Two weeks earlier, the national team captured bronze at the IBAF World Cup in Panama, making this squad the most successful in Baseball Canada's history.
As a member of Canada's starting pitching rotation, Lotzkar got the call in Canada's final roundrobin game against Venezuela and he delivered.
Needing a win to secure a semi-final berth, he threw 4 2/3 shutout innings that included six strikeouts in a 4-1 victory.
Lotzkar also benefitted from some great defence as he got into trouble in the bottom of third after loading the bases with only one out. He managed to get out of the inning with a fine 5-4-3 double play that gave his club some life.
Lotzkar was removed from the game with two out in the bottom of the fifth after walking his first batter of the game.
"Kyle did a great job," said Canadian Manager, Ernie Whitt. "He threw strikes and gave us a chance to win. I told him that if it was a regular season game I would have kept him in but our bullpen has been solid.
"Venezuela is a good hitting ball club,.Our pitchers did a great job keeping them off balance all game."
It was Lotzkar's second time facing Venezuela in less than 10 days. He was also on the mound in a 7-0 win at the World Cup. He worked five solid innings, allowing just three hits and no walks.
The South Delta secondary graduate was the Cincinnati Reds supplemental first round draft pick in 2007. He pitched this past season for the Dayton Dragons - the Reds' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League (Ohio) - where he finished with a 3-2 record in 14 starts. He recorded 72 strikeouts in 66-and-2/3 innings pitched.
