July2014

New Zealand Hands Canada its Second Loss at ISF Junior Men’s World Softball Championship

July 15, 2014

Whitehorse, YT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15th, 2014
 

New Zealand Hands Canada its Second Loss at
ISF Junior Men’s World Softball Championship


(Whitehorse, YT) The Canadian Junior Men’s National Team came out on the losing end of a 12-6 decision against New Zealand at the ISF X Junior Men’s World Championship for its second loss of the tournament. After Team Canada tied the game at 3-3 on a two-run homerun by Justin Boyer (St. Louis, SK) in the bottom of the third, New Zealand’s bats came alive as they sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs to take control of the game.
 
Canadian starting pitcher Johnathan Baker (Kitchener, ON) retired New Zealand in order in the top of the first before Canada got the leadoff hitter on base on an error, and a two-out walk put runners on first and second but the next batter struck out. In the second, Baker hit the first batter, who was later caught stealing on a great throw by catcher Taylor Schubada (Irma, AB), and struck out the next two batters. In the bottom of the frame, Matt Pilon (Duck Lake, SK) led off with a double, advanced to third on a passed ball later scored on a two-out single by Nick Penner (New Hamburg, ON), giving Canada an early 1-0 lead.
 
New Zealand responded by scoring three runs in the top of the third inning. A single and an error put runners on second and third before Vincent Harris hit a sacrifice fly ball to center field, immediately followed by a two-run homerun by Cole Evans. Looking to bring the game back to even terms, Pilon smacked a two-out double for Canada and Boyer delivered a big two-run homerun just over the centerfield fence to tie the game at 3-3.
 
However, that seemed to spark New Zealand, as three consecutive singles scored a run, followed by an error to load the bases, then a two-run double, a pair of run-scoring singles and a sacrifice fly to give the Kiwis a commanding 9-3 lead. Canada got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Tyler Pauli (Mitchell, ON) led off with a double and later scored on a ground-rule double by Schubada.
 
New Zealand went on to add a single run in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch, and two more in the sixth on a solo homerun by Eruera Drage and an RBI triple by Callum Elson, increasing its lead to 12-4. Looking to avoid the run rule, Pauli led off the bottom of the sixth with a single but was retired on a fielder’s choice. Justin Ganie (Irma, AB) then delivered a double to put runners on second and third before Francois-Charles Rene (St-Leonard-d’Aston, QC) smacked a double of his own to drive in two runs, making the score 12-6 in favour of New Zealand. New Zealand put two runners on base in the top of the seventh on a single and a walk but did not add any runs to its lead, and Canada went down in order on three strikeouts to end the game.
 
Box Score: New Zealand 12 vs. Canada 6
 
Baker allowed five runs – two earned – on four hits and struck out five batters in three innings and a third of work, while Matt Wardrop (Owen Sound, ON) was tagged also tagged for five runs – three earned – on five hits and two walks with one strikeout in one inning of relief. Eric Healey (Chapels Cove, NL) pitched the last two and two third innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout. Offensively, Canada produced 12 hits, led by a double and two singles by Pauli and a pair of doubles by Pilon. Schubada, Ganie, Rene, Boyer, Penner, Tyson Zehr (Tavistock, ON) and Josh Elliot (Prince Albert, SK) each added one hit apiece.   
 
Other scores on the fourth day of competition at the ISF X Junior Men’s World Championship were:
 
- Australia 13 vs. Denmark 1 (4 innings)
- Czech Republic 9 vs. Singapore 1 (5 innings)
- United States 7 vs. Mexico 6 (8 innings)
- Argentina 3 vs. Australia 0
- Japan 7 vs. Denmark 0 (5 innings)
 
Team Canada (2-2) will be back in action for a big game against Australia (2-3) Tuesday 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: 
http://worldfastpitch2014.com/en/home/.

The event can also be followed on Facebook (2014 Junior Men’s World Softball) and Twitter (@2014jrsoftball).
 
How to Follow Team Canada
Softball Canada Website: http://www.softball.ca
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SoftballCanada
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SoftballCanadaNSO

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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
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