ISF XIII Men's World Championship - Playoff 2
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 8, 2013
Argentina Eliminates Canada at the ISF Men's World Softball Championship
(Auckland, New Zealand) The Canadian Men`s National Team faced one of the top pitchers in the world and came out on the losing end of a tight 2-1 score against Argentina, eliminating them from the tournament at the ISF XIII Men's World Championship. Argentinean pitcher Juan Potolicchio shut down the Canadian offence for most of the game, and Argentina got a big two-run homerun with two outs in the bottom of the sixth before holding on for the win.
Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, QC) led off the game with a walk for Canada, but the following batter popped up a bunt attempt, followed by a line drive caught in left field and a strikeout to leave Roy at first. In the bottom of the first, Canadian pitcher Paul Koert (Brooklin, ON) struck out the first batter looking with a pitch on the outside corner and got the following batter to pop out to shortstop in foul territory before the third batter reached on an error. The following hitter singled through the left side of the infield, but Koert forced a ground ball to third base for the third out.
Potolicchio made quick work of the Canadian hitters by striking them out in order in the top of the second. In the bottom of the frame, Francisco Sabate led off with a walk for Argentina, but the following batter popped up a bunt attempt. A perfect drag bunt single by German Sacks put runners on first and second, followed by a fielder`s choice on a ground ball to first baseman Mullaley who threw the ball to second base. The next batter then drove a line drive right to the left fielder as Canada escaped the inning.
In the top of the third, Ryan Boland (St. John's, NL) led off with a single up the middle over the pitcher, and was replaced on the bases by pinch runner Kevin Schellenberg (Squamish, BC). Jason Hill (St. John's, NL) sacrificed Schellenberg to second, but a strikeout and a fly out to centerfield ended the inning. Koert fielded a bunt and three it to first to start the bottom of the inning, but Bruno Motroni singled to centerfield. Koert responded by retiring the next batter with a strikeout on the outside corner of the plate, and after the runner advanced on a wild pitch, struck out the following batter swinging.
Ellsworth hit a solid fly ball that went right to the centerfielder for an out, and Potolicchio struck out the two next batters in the top of the fourth inning. Koert started the bottom of the inning by striking out the first batter looking, and after a walk to Nicolas Bittor, Bryan Abrey (Richmond, BC) robbed a base hit by diving for a ground ball down the line at third base and firing it over to first for the second out, followed by a pop out behind the catcher.
Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) started the fifth inning with a solid fly out to centerfield, and the next two batters were quickly retired on a strikeout and a ground out to shortstop. Argentina quickly put a runner on base as Fernando Petric singled on the first pitch he saw, but Koert followed that up with a strikeout and got a fly out to right field. A passed ball advanced the runner to second, but Koert notched another strikeout to end the threat.
Canada went down in order once again on a pair of fly out to short right field and a line drive to left in the top of the sixth inning. Koert went back to work in the bottom of the frame by striking out the first batter on three pitches, and fielded a chopper back to the circle for the second out. Another walk to Bittor put a runner on with two outs, and Sean Whitten (Calgary, AB) came on in relief of Koert. After two balls just missed the strike zone, Sacks smashed a homerun over the left field fence to give Argentina a late 2-0 lead.
With the game on the line in the top of the seventh, Brad Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL) lined a one-out homerun over the left field fence to cut the lead in half. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Fehrman drove a pitch up the middle for a single, bringing Ryan Wolfe (Melbourne, ON) to the plate to pinch hit. After two balls, Wolfe hit a solid ground ball to the shortstop who threw the ball over to first to end the game.
Canada only managed three hits off Potolicchio, with Boland's single in the third, the solo homerun by Ezekiel and the single by Fehrman in the seventh. Koert did a fantastic job for Canada, allowing four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five inning and two thirds. Whitten took the loss, allowing the homerun and struck out one batter. Potolicchio struck out nine batters in the win.
Box Score and Play by Play: Canada 1 vs. Argentina 2
The loss eliminated Canada from the playoff round, and Argentina will move on to face Australia at 1:30am EST, with the winner of that game earning an opportunity to play in the medal round on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Andrew Kirkpatrick fired a no-hitter as Australia eliminated Japan by a 4-0 score. New Zealand will also take on Venezuela at 11:00pm EST to determine who will get a direct berth to the Gold medal game at 7:00pm EST on Saturday. The losing team will need to play the winner of Australia and Argentina at 4:00pm EST on Saturday to try to secure the other spot.
Live Streaming All playoff games will be streamed LIVE
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iscore - Live Scoring Updates
iscore Softball is the easiest way to track the Tradestaff ISF Men's World Softball Championships. It has everything you need to track and review a game and does not require you to buy any software - this free service will be available at the following link: www.softball.org.nz/Tradestaff+WSC+2013+Results.html
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc Manager - Marketing and Communications Softball Canada (613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
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