Cole Armstrong has brought back gold from the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The Surrey native was the catcher for the Canadian baseball team which edged the United States 7-6 in last week’s gold medal game last week. After giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning, Canada scored twice in the top of the sixth for the win.
Canada won four of five games at the tournament, with Armstrong getting a hit in each of the two round robin victories.
Jennifer Yee of North Delta and Surrey’s Melanie Matthews collected silver medals after Canada lost 11-1 to the United States in the final. Yee ranked eighth among all batters at the eight-team tournament, hitting .364. She was also fourth in runs scored with eight in 10 games.
Yee collected four RBIs in an 11-1 win over Venezuela in the first of three playoff games.
Matthews was tied for second with nine runs scored, and was ranked ninth in slugging percentage with a .517 average that included a home run, one of just 12 hit during the competition.
Also winning silver medals were Sukhwinder Singh of Surrey and North Delta’s Jag Gill, members of the Canadian men’s field hockey team which lost 3-1 to Argentina in the gold medal game. Canada had two all four games prior to the final, including a 3-2 win over Cuba in the semifinal, with Singh netting the winning goal.