Canadian Junior Men’s Softball Team Finishes
Third in Pool B with Win over South Africa

(Midland, MI) Team Canada finished third in Pool B following an 8-0 win in five innings against South Africa at the WBSC Junior Men’s World Softball Championship late last night. The Canadian team had defeated Israel 8-1 earlier in the day and saw their evening game delayed until 10:00pm after a thunderstorm hit the area late in the afternoon. The red and white took advantage of five South African errors, while Jordan Hudson (Saskatoon, SK) fired a one-hitter over five innings.
 
Hudson started the game on the right foot, striking out the side in the top half of the first before Canada opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the frame. Avery Arsenault (Tignish, PEI) drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third when the catcher threw the ball into the outfield, and scored on an error by the centerfielder. South Africa drew a one-out walk of its own in the second with the runner stealing second, but he was left stranded after a pair of strikeouts. Justin Laskowski (Warman, SK) led off the bottom of the inning with a single and advanced to second when Hudson reached on an error. The runners advanced on another error before Laskowski scored on a wild pitch, and James Shirley (Saskatoon, SK) grounded out to second to score Hudson from third as Canada took a 3-0 lead.
 
Both teams got leadoff walks in the third but only sent three batters to the plate, as both runners were called out for leaving the bag early. South Africa managed its only hit of the game in the top of the fourth on a one-out single to left, but Hudson got a ground out and a fly out to end the inning. Canada added five runs to its lead on the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. Laskowski led off with a double to center and was replaced by pinch-runner Jake Wiffen (Tavistock, ON) who advanced to third on a wild pitch before a walk and a stolen base by Hudson put runners on second and third. Isaac Lefebvre (St-Leonard-d’Aston, QC) dropped a safety squeeze for a single to score Wiffen, followed by a hit by pitch to load the bases with one out. Arsenault walked to bring a run to the plate and Alexandre Lemieux (St-Gervais, QC) delivered a base clearing double to center to drive in three and give Canada a big 8-0 lead. Hudson struck out the side again in the top of the fifth to end the game on the run rule.
 
Box Score: Canada 8 vs. South Africa 0
 
Hudson allowed only a hit and two walks while striking out ten in the five-inning win. Laskowski had a double and a single for Canada at the plate, with Lemieux driving in three with a double and walked twice. Lefebvre also singled in a run to round out Canada’s four hits, which went along with eight walks.
 
Team Canada improved its record to 3-2 which places them in third place in Pool B behind Japan (5-0) and New Zealand (4-1) and ahead of Mexico (2-3), with those four teams advancing to the playoff round. In the other pool, Argentina finished first with a 5-0 record, followed by the United States (4-1), Australia (3-2) and the Czech Republic (2-3). Canada’s first playoff game will be a crossover against the Czech Republic at 2:30pm EDT today. The loser of that game will be eliminated, while the winner will play the losing team of the game between the United States and Japan at 2:30pm EDT on Friday.