Van Ostrand and Van Hekken win Gold, Silver at Pan-Am Games

Two Astros farmhands played key roles in their team’s gold and silver medal performances at the Pan-Am Games which wrapped up tonight in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jimmy Van Ostrand of Team Canada doubled in a pair of runs off Team U S A’s Andy Van Hekken giving the Canadians a 2-1 win in the gold medal game. Team U S A ousted Cuba Sunday with a 12-10 victory. Cuba had won the gold in every Pan-Am Games since 1971.

Van Ostrand, 27, has spent the last three seasons at AA Corpus Christi. An OF/1B, Van Ostrand hit .306/.382/.477 this season. Van Ostrand went 9 for 19 with four RBIs in the Pan-Am Games tournament.

Van Hekken, 32, is a minor league veteran and is not currently on the Astros 40-man roster. The left-hander went 9-6 with a 3.40 ERA at Oklahoma City in 2011.

I don’t know if we will see either of these guys in Houston any time soon. But if we do I already have nicknames picked out for them. Van Gold & Van Silver.

Congratulations to all of the players for Team Canada and Team U S A !