Midland, MI - USA Softball Junior Men's National Team defeats Australia 4-3 after late game RBI single by Broadbear to earn No. 2 seed in Playoff Rounds
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MIDLAND, Mich. – The USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT) is just one of eight nations to advance to the playoff rounds at the 2016 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Men’s World Championship after a 4-3, extra inning thriller win over Australia in their final pool play match. With both teams held without a run until the sixth inning, it was the USA Softball JMNT who ultimately came out on top over Australia following a ninth-inning RBI single by Jonathan Broadbear (Bloomington, Ill.) to score Steven Nessler (Mankato, Minn.).Â
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Zane Chason’s (Alma, Ga.) six strikeouts over five innings combined with Derek Martin’s (Stevens, Pa.) two singles lifted Team USA over the Aussies after a rain-delayed contest that did not begin until 10 p.m., four hours after it’s originally schedule start time.
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Following a groundout to shortstop Broadbear in the top of the first inning, a strikeout issued by Chason and a fly out caught to left fielder Matthew Martin (Myerstown, Pa.), Team USA would return to the dugout and send Bryce DuCharme (Hudson, Wis.) to the plate. Despite a fly out by DuCharme, Team USA would mark down the first hit of the game as D. Martin singled to left field. Two-straight strikeouts by Australia’s Luke Ollerenshaw would strand D. Martin on base for USA.
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Highlighting the second inning was a diving catch by M. Martin and back-to-back strikeouts from Chason to get a quick 1-2-3 out of the inning. Team USA retired their batters following another strong performance by Australia’s Ollerenshaw, who issued three-consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the second.
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It was another scoreless inning in the third for both sides, as JMNT first baseman Brogan Potter (Prairie du Chien, Wis.) made the first two outs for Team USA as a grounder and line drive made their way straight to the rookie’s glove. Justin Perez (Erie, Pa.) made the third out on a fly out to right field. Leading off for the Red, White and Blue in the bottom of the third, M. Martin found a gap in right center field but would be stranded on third following two fly outs and ground out.
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The U.S. looked to strike first in the bottom of the fourth after a leadoff single from Peyton Hall (Prairie du Chien, Wis.). Isaac Hormann (Young America, Minn.) ripped one up the middle but the ball was snagged by Australia to make the double play and end the inning.
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It was not until the sixth inning that both teams would connect to score two apiece and keep it a tied ballgame. After Chason issued a leadoff walk, a wild pitch advanced the runner to second before the second walk of the inning put two on. A single to left field plated the first run of the game, before an intentional walk loaded the bases. A hit batter plated the second run of the at-bat, prompting a pitching change as D. Martin entered in relief for Chason.
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With one out in the bottom of the sixth, DuCharme and D. Martin did what they do best – singling to left field reaching base and putting the U.S. in scoring position. Back-to-back, one-out singles from DuCharme and D. Martin put two runners on. The rally looked to be halted after a fielder’s choice recorded DuCharme out at third base for the second out of the inning. With two outs, Hormann singled to left field to allow the two runners to cross the plate to tie the game at 2-2.
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Tied at 2-2 after seven complete innings, the ballgame would go into extra innings with the international tiebreaker (ITB) rule into effect as fans continued to chant the letters, “U-S-A!†calling for a final in USA’s favor. Both teams would strand their ITB runner in the eighth before Australia was able to bring a run across in the top of the ninth. Down to their final at-bat and needing to plate at least one to continue the game, the U.S. did just that and more.  After a throwing error by the Aussie defense allowed Hormann, who started the inning at second, to advance to third. A single from Nessler brought Hormann home to tie the game up at 3-3. A one-out single from Jeff Lewis (Amboy, Minn.) put two runners on, but a fly ball for the second out kept the runners at bay. The U.S. utilized a two-out rally, as Broadbear connected for a single down the left field line to plate Nessler and earn the U.S. the 4-3 (nine innings) win.
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Team USA will resume action today against Japan at 7:30 p.m. ET in their first playoff game. Fans at home can watch online or follow along with live stats at 2016JMWC.com.Â
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About the World Baseball Softball ConfederationÂ
For further information, please go to www.WBSC.org or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC.
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Katie Willis I Communications Coordinator
Amateur Softball Association/USA Softball
2801 NE 50th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111
405-425-3425 (O)
Visit Us Online: ASAUSASoftball.com
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Follow along with USA Softball as they compete at the WBSC World Championships!
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WBSC Women’s World Championship (July 15-24) –  http://go.teamusa.org/29JXAld Â
WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship (July 24-30) –2016JMWC.com
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