PORT PERRY — Jake Bricknell already looks back fondly on the summer it’s been for him on the ball diamond, but chances are it will become even more special the further he gets away from the disappointment of a Sunday, Aug. 7 loss in Tavistock.

Bricknell, a 19-year-old Port Perry resident, and his Oshawa BB fastball team had scrapped all the way back from an 8-2 first-inning deficit and took a 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh inning in the gold-medal game of the U21 men's Canadian fast pitch championship.

However, the same Quebec team that had already beaten them twice by a run in the tournament, scored two in the bottom half to snatch away the gold with an 11-10 victory.

The silver medal came hot on the heels of a bronze medal Bricknell had won with Canada at the WBSC junior men’s world softball championship in Michigan.

“I’ll take away that experience and just that was enough for me, but obviously winning would have been icing on the cake,” said Bricknell, who was away from home for about a month preparing and playing in the tournaments. “It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions.”

Canada went into the world championships looking for a better result than the disappointing seventh-place finish on home soil two years ago, in Whitehorse.

To come away with a bronze was impressive in that regard, but Canada carried a 7-4 leading into bottom of the fifth inning against New Zealand, only to lose 12-7 and miss out on a shot at gold against Japan.

“Going into the tournament, we were hoping to get on the podium,” said Bricknell.

“We had a good group of guys and a talented group of guys too, and getting a medal is obviously a big achievement and we’re proud of that, but it would’ve been nice to beat New Zealand and face Japan,” he continued. “It stings at first, but looking back at it, it’s a good experience.”

Bricknell was a key contributor to both teams, typically batting cleanup for the national team and hitting third and playing second base for Oshawa at the nationals. He carried a .273 batting average with two home runs and five RBI in eight games at the worlds, and hit at a .462 clip with one long ball and 11 RBI at nationals, including a tournament-leading eight in the playoff rounds.

Although Bricknell says he is “more in hockey mode now” as he prepares for his upcoming season with the OHL’s Guelph Storm, he has an International Softball Congress tournament in Chicago later this month and Team Ontario tryouts for next year’s Canada Summer Games still on the ball schedule this summer.

A second-round draft pick of the Belleville Bulls in 2013, the six-foot, 207-pound right winger was traded by the Hamilton Bulldogs to the Guelph Storm last season, where he finished strong, scoring eight goals and 18 points in 50 games.