Japan beats Canada 6-2 at Junior Menâ€™sWorlds

june2008

Japan beats Canada 6-2 at Junior Menâ€™sWorlds

June 27, 2008

White Horse, YK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2008

Japan beats Canada 6-2 at Junior Men’sWorlds

(Whitehorse, Yukon) – The standings got a lot morecomplicated after Day 7 of the ISF Junior Men’s World Championships, as previouslyunbeaten Australia lost 9-0 to New Zealand, giving Canada a chance to join thematop the tournament standings with a win over Japan. However, the Japanese hadother things in mind, and shut down Canada for most of the game to earn a 6-2win and creating a logjam in the battle for second place.

Japan, known for their speed and quickness on thediamond, put those attributes to work right away in the top of the firstinning, quickly loading the bases on a walk and two singles. The first Japaneserun scored following a passed ball, while the second quickly followed on thesame play when Canadian pitcher Devon McCullough (Saskatoon, SK) could nothandle the catchers toss to home. In their own half of the inning, Canadaseemed poised to respond, as McCullough and Mike Noftall (St. John’s, NL)connected for back-to-back singles. However, the next two hitters were retiredand Japan escaped the inning.

Japan added to their lead in the second,manufacturing a run on a hit by pitch, two groundouts to advance the runner tothird and an RBI single. Canada finally got the crowd on its feet in the thirdinning, when Noftall drove in Terrell Walker (Balcarres, SK) from second with asingle.

Japan added a single run in the top of the fifth,and two more in the seventh to take a commanding 6-1 lead heading into thebottom of the seventh. Dylan Cunningham (Belwood, ON) did his part to prolongthe game, battling the count to three and two before hammering a leadoff solohomerun to right field. Nevertheless, the Japanese pitcher struck out the threenext hitters to end the game.

McCullough pitched all seven innings for Canada,allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out six Japanese hitters,while the Canadian defencecommitted two errors. At the plate, Noftall and Walker paced Canada with twohits apiece, while McCullough and Cunningham each had a hit.

With the lost, Canada’s record dropped to 8-2, whileJapan improved to 7-2. With their win over Australia, New Zealand is also inthe thick of the battle for second place with an 8-2 record, while Australiastands alone atop the standings at 9-1.

Canada will take on the United States at 7:30pm PDTtomorrow in a game that can be heard on Ballpark Radio. All four playoff gameson Saturday the 28^th and Sunday the 29^thcan also beheard on the internet radio station. Visit www.softball.cafor a link to Ballpark Radio, and be sure to visit the Multimedia section forpictures from the event!

Standings after Day 7

Team Wins Losses Runs For Runs Against