FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 29, 2016

 

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USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team finishes fifth at WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship after 6-2 loss to Canada

MIDLAND, Mich. – With an opportunity to medal at the 2016 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Men’s World Championship (JMWC), the USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT) took the field at Currie Stadium to face Canada Friday afternoon. Despite taking an early 2-0 lead with a run scored in both the first and second innings, Canada fired back with an offensive retaliation of their own to pull out a 6-2 win over Team USA.

 

Derek Martin (Stevens, Pa.) started the game in the circle for the JMNT and allowed four runs over four and two-third innings before Zane Chason (Alma, Ga.) entered in relief. Upon taking the mound, Chason allowed two runs on three hits through the remainder of the game.

 

After stranding Canada’s Alexandre Lemieux on second following a groundout to Jonathan Broadbear (Bloomington, Ill.) at shortstop, Team USA opened their first inning at bat with a fly out by Bryce DuCharme (Hudson, Wis.). D. Martin was issued a walk next and would remain at first after Canada’s Tyler Randerson struck out Peyton Hall (Prairie du Chien, Wis.). With two outs and one runner on base, Isaac Hormann (Young America, Minn.) singled to center which turned into a run for Team USA as D. Martin rounded the bases and ultimately crossed home. The first inning would come to an end following a strikeout by Justin Perez (Northeast, Pa.).

 

Canada led off the second with a single hit to center but Team USA tightened up their defense as D. Martin delivered a strikeout, which was followed by a pop out and groundball that were sent straight to Hormann’s glove. After a hit by pitch, Jeff Lewis (Amboy, Minn.) took first and advanced to second as a result of an error by the catcher during Matthew Martin’s (Myerstown, Pa.) at bat. M. Martin reached on a base on balls and after a groundout by Broadbear, reached second on the play. An error by the first baseman would plate Lewis and mark M. Martin safe at third. With one out on a 3-1 count, Steven Nessler (Mankato, Minn.) would reach on a fielder’s choice with M. Martin called out at home. A subsequent fly out to Canada third baseman Isaac Lefebvre by DuCharme ended the inning.

 

A ground out to Lewis recorded the first out of the third inning but a hit to right field sent Canada’s Wiffen to third, where he would take off and plate a run for Canada following a groundout to Broadbear. On the next play, Lemieux hit a single but was caught stealing second, resulting in a third out. Heading into the bottom of the third, Team USA would struggle to add on to their 2-1 lead. Although D. Martin hit a line drive to left field, he would be stranded after three-straight strikeouts by Hall, Hormann and Perez.

 

The JMNT would give up their lead in the fourth after a double to right field plated another run for Canada to tie the game at 2-2. With one out already, D. Martin followed it up with a strikeout but after a single was hit to right field, Canada would take control of the game and go up 3-2.

 

From there, Team USA struggled to get things going again offensively through the contest as the next hit would not come until the bottom of the fifth. After Canada extended their lead to 4-2 in the top half, the JMNT took to the bats with intentions on making a comeback. Although DuCharme’s one-out triple to right field resulted in chants from USA fans, he would be stranded on third following a fly out by D. Martin and strikeout by Hall.

 

The score would remain unchanged through the sixth at 4-2 in favor of Canada as Team USA was unable to pick up hits. Canada continued the momentum in the top of the seventh and cushioned their lead to 6-2 on three singles, all sent towards the USA Softball JMNT outfielders.

 

The Red, White and Blue would be unable to rebound back in the seventh. Even though Broadbear would single and reach third on a double by DuCharme, Canada’s  Randerson would issue his third strikeout of the inning to seal the deal for Team Canada. 

 

The USA Softball JMNT ends their season at the WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship in fifth place for the third straight year. As a team, the U.S. finished the JMWC with a .284 team batting average, 55 hits and 27 RBI, in addition to the pitchers Chason, D. Martin and Lewis issuing a total of 57 strikeouts over the course of seven games. The 2018 WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship will take place in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, July 7-15, 2018.

 

Follow along with Team USA all year long at ASAUSASoftball.com.

About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.2 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won 10 World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

 

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation 

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland -- the Olympic Capital -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 213 National Federation and Associate Members in 142 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually. 

 

The WBSC also governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women's).

 

For further information, please go to www.WBSC.org or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC.

 

 

 

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

 

Follow along with USA Softball Junior Men as they compete at the WBSC World Championship!

 

WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship (July 24-30) –2016JMWC.com