USA Softball: Men’s National Team falls to No. 2 Canada in Game 4 of WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship

June 18, 2019

---

Men’s National Team falls to No. 2 Canada in Game 4 of WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 17, 2019 Web Release: Link

Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic – The USA Softball Men’s National Team moved to No. 4 in Pool B standings at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Softball World Championship following a 4-1 loss to world-ranked No. 2 Canada. Under the stadium lights at Hippos Arena, four of the 5 total combined runs came via the home run and three were in favor of Canada.   “When you are playing a team as deep and well balanced as Canada, you can’t make many mistakes if you want to have any shot at beating them,” said Head Coach Gregg Leather (Staten Island, N.Y.) “Tonight we made a few too many. Duane left a few pitches out over the plate and their hitters didn’t miss those opportunities.”   “I thought we hit the ball better than the final stats show,” continued Leather “We squared up a few balls but credit to their defense for making all the plays. Mancha came in and kept us in the game and the guys battled until the final out but came up short. We are still in position to make the playoffs, but we just need to focus on tomorrow’s game and take it one at a time.”   Matt Ratliff (American Fork, Utah) drew a one-out walk in the top of the second inning, but the first hit by either side came in the bottom half as Canada hit back-to-back home runs for an early 2-0 lead.   With two outs in the top of the third, Yusef Davis (Long Beach, Calif.) reached on an infield error but a groundout closed out the inning. Canada homered in the bottom half of the frame to tack on a third run, resulting in a change in the circle from Duane Weiler (Richland, Pa.) to Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.).   Trailing 3-0 with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Matt Palazzo (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) recorded the first U.S. home run of the tournament and drove one out of the park to put U.S. on the board. Despite Canada threatening to score additional runs in the bottom of the fourth frame after a pair of singles led off the inning, with the two runners advancing on a groundout, Jonathan Lynch (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) made the catch in left field foul territory to send Team USA back to the plate.   The Red, White and Blue continued to battle through the sixth with Lynch singling and Erick Ochoa (Imperial, Calif.) drawing a two-out walk, but a strikeout kept the game at a two-run U.S. deficit. Canada’s leadoff walk in the bottom half of the sixth frame quickly came around to score off a passed ball, making it 4-1.    With one last chance, the U.S. continued to battle with Ratliff doubling and Jeff Nowaczyk (Midland, Mich.) singling up the middle to put runners on the corners. Unfortunately, the MNT could not capitalize as three strikeouts capped off the 4-1 loss to the Canadians.    Weiler surrendered three runs on four hits over two and two-thirds innings, striking out one and walking one, while Mancha pitched the remaining three and one-thirds innings and allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Four players tallied one hit apiece, highlighted by Palazzo’s solo shot in the fourth. Team USA (2-2) returns to action tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. CT) to face No. 22 Singapore at Svoboda Park in Prague.    Click here to see the complete schedule for the United States   The 16 teams that are competing in the WBSC Men’s World Championship are: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, USA and Venezuela.   Currently ranked No. 6 in the world, the U.S. is looking to improve upon a sixth-place finish at the 2017 WBSC World Championship in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, where the team finished with a 6-3 record. Team USA last stood on the podium at the 2000 edition in East London, South Africa.   Click here for more information on the 2019 WBSC Men’s World Championship   MEDIA: For more information on the WBSC Men's World Championship, please contact media@wbsc.co.   About USA Softball USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations.  USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.    As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.

Copyright © 2019 USA Softball, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have registered with USA Softball or have requested to be added to USA Softball's mailing list.

Our mailing address is:
USA Softball