FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15th, 2013
U21 Men’s International Softball Championship
Medal Round Results
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(Saskatoon, SK) Team Ontario defeated ISA New Zealand in the 1st vs. 2nd playoff matchup, and defeated them once again in the Gold medal game in New Zealand’s third game of the day to win the U21 Men’s International Softball Championship in Saskatoon, SK. Newfoundland and Labrador eliminated Argentina earlier in the day, and went on to lose to New Zealand to win the Bronze medal.
Championship Round Playoffs
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C07: Ontario 5 vs. New Zealand 1
In the matchup between the two teams with two remaining lives, Ontario scored three runs in the top of the first and Michael Lagace-Roote only allowed one unearned run and three hits with 14 strikeouts as Ontario punched its ticket to the Championship game. Ty Sebastian opened the scoring with an RBI single followed by a two-run homerun by Travis Jones for the early lead in the top of the first. New Zealand got one run back in the bottom of the third on an error, and Ontario added another run to their lead on a sacrifice fly by Lagace-Roote in the top of the sixth. Ontario would then add their fifth run in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring single by Cody Werner, and New Zealand got a one-out single in the bottom of the frame but could not get any closer.
C08: Newfoundland and Labrador 6 vs. Argentina 1
Newfoundland and Labrador broke a tight ball game open with five runs in the bottom of the fifth as they eliminated Argentina from the tournament. The Argentineans got things started on the right foot with a solo homerun by Teo Migliavacca in the top of the first, but NL would later tie the game when Aaron Whelan led off the bottom of the third with a double and scored on a single by Colin Walsh. In the bottom of the fifth, Newfoundland and Labrador registered five singles to score five runs to take a commanding lead. Argentina put two runners on base in the sixth, but was unable to score them and Mark Power struck out the side in the seventh to earn the complete game win in the pitcher’s circle.
C09: New Zealand 5 vs. Newfoundland and Labrador 2
With both teams having played immediately before, New Zealand scored all their runs in the first three innings and held on as pitcher Ben Watts allowed only two runs – one earned – on four hits with eight strikeouts to give ISA New Zealand a rematch with Ontario in the Gold medal game. NZ opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Curtis Huata singled, stole second and third and scored by tagging up on a fly ball to short right field caught by the second baseman. NL got that run right back in the top of the second on a solo homerun by Johnny Doyle, but NZ re-took the lead in the bottom of the frame on a solo homerun by Karaitiana Aranui. New Zealand then scored three more runs in the third on an RBI single by Josh Gettins, on a passed ball and on an RBI triple by Tim Campbell to put NZ up 5-1.NL scored a run on a passed ball in the top of the sixth, but went down in order in the top of the seventh to end the game. Newfoundland and Labrador took home the Bronze medal with the loss.
C10: Ontario 9 vs. New Zealand 3
In a rematch of the game earlier in the morning, New Zealand showed some fight despite playing for the third time of the same day but Ontario was just too strong as they won the Gold medal with a 9-3 win. Ontario opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first on back-to-back solo homeruns by Ty Sebastian and Travis Jones, and went on to add three more in the third on an RBI double by Sebastian and a two-run shot by Jones as Ontario built a 5-0 lead. New Zealand got on the board on an RBI double by Tao Tauranga in the fourth, but Ontario immediately responded with three more runs on an RBI double by Cody Werner and a two-run single by Jones. NZ fired right back with a solo homerun by Josh Gettins and an RBI single Jackson Prime, but Ontario scored another run on a passed ball and the lead was just too much to overcome, as Michael Lagace-Roote sealed the Gold medal win by striking out the last batter for his second complete game win of the day. Travis Jones hit two homeruns and drove in five runs for Ontario, while Ty Sebastian hit a homerun, a double and a single with two runs batted in.
Visit the official tournament website for all scoring and statistics: http://championship.softball.ca/u21mensinternational/.
Softball Canada would like to thank the organizing committee and the Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association for their excellent work in hosting this fantastic event. We would also like to thank all of the Provincial/Territorial Associations and teams who committed to the event, as well as our two international teams who brought excellent international flavour to the competition.
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca
