(Whitehorse, YT) The Canadian Junior Men’s National Team opened its ISF X Junior Men’s World Softball Championship schedule with a 7-0 win in five innings over the Czech Republic. Matt Wardrop (Owen Sound, ON) fired a one-hitter, while Johnathan Baker (Kitchener, ON) blasted a three-run homerun and Taylor Schubada (Irma, AB) had a double and two singles to lead Canada to victory.
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In the top of the first inning, Wardrop induced three ground balls to the right side of the infield – two to second base and one to first base – to put the Czech Republic away in order. In the bottom of the inning, Samuel Bedard-Desmarais (Nicolet, QC) drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a single by Schubada, but Czech pitcher Michal Holobradek struck out the next two batters to end the inning. The Czechs managed a two-out walk in the second, but a ground out to third base send Canada back to the plate, but the red and white went down in order quickly as the game remained scoreless.
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After Wardrop retired the Czechs in order on two more groundouts and a strikeout, the Canadian bats finally got going. Tyler Pauli (Mitchell, ON) smacked a one-out triple to the opposite field past the left fielder, and scored on a ground ball that got through the shortstop. Schubada hit another single through the right side of the infield to put two runs on base, setting the stage for a three-run homerun by Baker to left-center field, giving Canada a 4-0 lead. Curtis Piecowye (Sakatoon, SK) then walked and advanced to third on another error by the shortstop before scoring on a double steal to add another run for Canada.
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The Czech Republic drew another two-out walk in the top half of the fourth, but Schubada threw the runner out at second on a steal attempt. In the bottom of the frame, Pauli singled, stole second base and advanced to third when the throw to second got by the center fielder. Bedard-Desmarais then hit a ball up the middle past second base to score Pauli, and went on to score on a double by Schubada to increase the lead to 7-0.
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In the top of the fifth, the Czech Republic managed its first hit of the game through the right side of the infield, but the next batter hit a ground ball to Tyson Zehr (Tavistock, ON) at second base, who tagged the runner going to second and threw the ball to first for a double play. After a hit by pitch put a runner on first, Michael Bala hit a towering drive to straightaway centerfield that Matt Pilon (Duck Lake, SK) caught on a well-timed jump at the fence to steal a homerun away and end the game on the run rule.
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Box Score: Canada 7 vs. Czech Republic 0 Â
Wardrop earned the win in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, firing a one-hitter with two walks and two strikeouts over five innings of work. Schubada had a double, two singles and a run batted in, while Baker added a three-run homerun and Pauli had a triple, a single and two runs scored. Bedard-Desmarais chipped in with a single, a run batted in and two runs scored as the top of the lineup did all the damage for Team Canada.
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Other scores on the first day of competition at the ISF X Junior Men’s World Championship were:
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- Japan 33 vs. Singapore 1 (4 innings)
- Argentina 1 vs. Mexico 0 (8 innings)
- New Zealand 5 vs. Australia 1
- United States 13 vs. Denmark 4 (5 innings)
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Team Canada (1-0) will be back in action on Saturday when they take on the defending champions from Argentina (1-0) at 7:30pm PDT. Live Pointstreak scoring, webstreaming and Ballpark Radio broadcast will be available through the ISF IX Junior Men’s World Championship’s official website:Â
http://worldfastpitch2014.com/en/home/.
The event can also be followed on Facebook (
2014 Junior Men’s World Softball) and Twitter (
@2014jrsoftball).
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How to Follow Team Canada Softball Canada Website:Â
http://www.softball.ca Twitter:Â
http://www.twitter.com/SoftballCanada Facebook:Â
http://www.facebook.com/SoftballCanadaNSO
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105