ISF XIII Men's World Championship - Game 4
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2013
Canada Edges New Zealand in Extra Inning Thriller at ISF Men`s World Championship
(Auckland, New Zealand) The Canadian Men's National took control of Pool B with a thrilling back-and-forth 9-7 win over New Zealand in eight innings at the ISF XIII Men`s World Championship. New Zealand jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a pair of homeruns by Brad Rona, but Canada tied the game on a clutch three-run homerun by Ryan Boland (St. John's, NL) and took a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. New Zealand showed resiliency with a two-out game-tying two-run homerun to send the game in extra innings, but Canada scored three runs in the top of the eight highlighted by a two-run homerun by Brad Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL) and held on for the win.
In the top of the first, Canada put some early pressure with two outs as Jeff Ellsworth (St. Lawrence, PEI) singled up the middle, followed by another single by Brad Ezekiel and a walk to Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) to load the bases. New Zealand made an early pitching change with Nik Hayes replacing starter Penese Iosefo, and the move paid off as he struck out the next batter to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Nathan Nukunuku dropped a leadoff single into right field, followed by a slap over the third baseman`s head off the bat of Tyson Byrne, and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Donny Hale then hit a chopper to third base, with Nukunuku scoring on the throw over to first. Brad Rona connected with a two-run homerun deep to left field to put New Zealand up 3-0.
The following inning, Ryan Boland reached on an error with one out, and Brandon Horn (Waterloo, ON) followed that up by singling off the pitcher`s glove and into right field to move Boland up to third and Horn taking second. Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, QC) hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Boland in to score, and Bryan Abrey (Richmond, BC) hit a chopper to third that was thrown away at first, but Horn was called out trying to score from second on the play. Canadian starting pitcher Sean Cleary (Harbour Main, NL) settled in, striking out the first two hitters in the second, and getting the third out when the batter interfered on a drag bunt.
Ellsworth led off the third inning with a walk, prompting another pitching change for New Zealand to bring in Jeremy Manley. Ezekiel then blooped a single just out of the reach of the shortstop to put two runners on base with nobody out. However, the next batter hit a ground ball to the second baseman with an interference call on the runner heading to second base and the umpire also called the batter out for the double play. The following hitter struck out. Cleary then forced two slow rollers and struck out the next batter for another quick inning.
After a strikeout to start the fourth inning, Boland and Horn connected with back-to-back singles as Canada kept putting runners on base. Kevin Schellenberg (Squamish, BC) pinch ran for Boland at second base, and Roy dumped a single into short center field to load the bases. However, Manley struck out the two next batters on risers as Canada was held off the score sheet. Paul Koert (Brooklin, ON) came on in relief for Canada in the bottom of the frame, and was greeted with a leadoff homerun to left-center field by Rona to increase the lead to 4-1. Horn then made a fantastic diving catch to rob a hit at second base, and then fielded a short hopper perfectly for the second out before a fly out to right field.
In the top of the fifth, Fehrman hit a one-out single to right field, followed by a single by Stephen Mullaley (Freshwater, NL) past the outstretched glove of the shortstop, with Fehrman getting to third on the play. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Boland launched a huge three-run homerun over the right field fence to tie the game! New Zealand managed a leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the inning, and Koert struck out the next two batters before an opposite field single by Byrne, but the following hitter flied out to left to end the inning, with the score tied 4-4 after five innings of play.
Roy led off the top of the sixth inning with a triple to the right-center field gap, quickly followed by an RBI single by Abrey, giving Canada its first lead of the game and forcing New Zealand to make a pitching change back to the starting pitcher Iosefo. The next batter popped out on a bunt attempt followed by a fielder`s choice before Fehrman drew a walk, but the next batter struck out. Sean Whitten (Calgary, AB) came in to pitch to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and after getting a ground out for the first out, Ben Enoka singled up the middle. Whitten followed that with a strikeout, and Enoka moved up with a stolen base on a pitch that the catcher could not handle. A walk put another runner on base, but Whitten froze the next batter after a lengthy at-bat to end the inning.
In the top half of the seventh, Ryan Wolfe (Melbourne, ON) hit an infield single on a tapper to second base and moved up to second on a passed ball. After a ground out back to the pitcher, Horn singled through the right side of the infield to score Wolfe. Horn moved up to second on a passed ball, and Roy worked a walk, but the next batter grounded into a double play. With New Zealand up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, the leadoff batter attempted a drag bunt and was retired on a close play at first. Nukunuku then walked, and Byrne slapped a ball to third base and was called out on a very close play at first for the second out. Donny Hale then hammered a deep two-run homerun over the centerfield fence to tie the game 6-6. Don Scott (Stratford, ON) replaced Whitten in the pitcher's circle, and Rona hit a single through the left side of the infield, but the next batter struck out looking to send the game into extra innings.
Abrey started on second base due to the international tie-breaker rule and with Jarrad Martin now pitching for New Zealand, Ellsworth sacrificed Abrey over to third and Ezekiel launched a high two-run homerun to centerfield to give Canada an 8-6 lead. Fehrman kept things going with a single, moved up to second on a groundout and Wolfe drove him in with a single up the middle. Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Martin flew out to centerfield but the throw down to third base could not be handled, allowing the runner who started on second base to score. The next batter hit a hard liner to shortstop that was well played and thrown to first for the second out, and Scott forced a soft pop up to second base to end the game.
Canada's offence was dangerous in every inning, producing 17 hits in the win. After being held to no homeruns over the first three games, Boland and Ezekiel each connected with one. Ezekiel and Horn each had three hits for the red and white, while Roy, Fehrman, Wolfe and Boland all added two. Abrey, Ellsworth and Mullaley all chipped in with one, as each Canadian starter registered at least a hit.
Four pitchers combined for the victory in the pitcher`s circle. Sean Cleary started the game and pitched the first three innings, allowing three runs on three hits - all in the first inning - and struck out four. Paul Koert pitched the two following innings, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts, followed by Sean Whitten who allowed two runs, two hits and two walks with two strikeouts in an inning and two thirds. Don Scott earned the win by allowing one hit with one strike out in the last inning and a third.
Box Score and Play by Play: Canada 9 vs. New Zealand 7 (8 innings)
The win moved Canada (4-0) into first place in Pool B, while New Zealand (3-1) dropped into second place. In other scores on the fourth day of the tournament: Argentina blasted the Netherlands 11- 1; Great Britain powered past Indonesia 10-0; the United States defeated the Czech Republic 10-7; Mexico edged the Philippines 8-6; Japan beat Colombia 9-2; Australia defeated South Africa 9-1; and Venezuela got by Samoa 4-3.
Team Canada will play its next game against Japan (2-2) at 11:00pm EST Monday night on Diamond 1.
Tournament Standings (from the International Softball Federation website)
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Live Streaming All games on Diamond 1 are streamed LIVE All games on Diamond 2 are available ON DEMAND
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