FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 8th, 2014 Â
Team Canada Roster Announced for Men’s Pan American Softball Championship
(Ottawa, ON) Softball Canada is pleased to announce the list of players who will represent Canada as members of the Men’s National Team to compete at the Pan American Softball Championship from October 24 to November 1, 2014 in Parana, Argentina. The final roster was determined based on performance at a Men’s National Team training camp held in Ontario in May, the recently completed Senior Men’s Canadian Championship in Charlottetown and other major competitions.  “We are extremely excited to be defending our Pan American Championship title with this group of seventeen players†stated Mike Branchaud, Softball Canada Manager of National Teams and Canadian Championships. “We have great pitching and hitting and tremendous depth. We look forward to competing in Parana, as well as the International Softball Federation Men’s World Championship and the Pan American Games in 2015.† The Pan American Softball Championship will serve as a qualifier for both the 2015 ISF Men’s World Championship scheduled for June 26 to July 5, 2015 in Saskatoon, SK and the 2015 Pan American Games that will take place July 11-18, 2015 in Ajax, ON. As the host country, Canada has already secured a spot at both events, with five other teams competing for berths for both those events at the Pan American Championship.  The Canadian Men’s National Team last competed at the 2013 ISF Men’s World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, where they finished fifth. At the previous Men’s Pan American Softball Championship held in Medellin, Colombia in 2012, Team Canada finished second in the round robin behind Venezuela, and lost their first playoff game to Venezuela before blanking Argentina to earn yet another shot at the Venezuelans. In the Gold medal game, Venezuela took a 1-0 lead into the sixth before Canada put up four runs in the bottom of the sixth highlighted by a three-run homerun by Andy Skelton (Scarborough, ON), earning Canada its first Gold medal at the event since 1993. The athletes who have been selected to represent Team Canada at the 2014 Men’s Pan American Softball Championship are: Â
Athletes Â
Name |
Pos |
Date of Birth |
Hometown |
Bryan Abrey |
C/OF |
April 30, 1987 |
Richmond, BC |
Sean Cleary |
P |
November 30, 1984 |
Harbour Main, NL |
Jeff Ellsworth |
OF |
August 11, 1977 |
St. Lawrence, PEI |
Blair Ezekiel |
IF/OF |
March 7, 1981 |
Harbour Main, NL |
Jason Hill |
OF/IF/P |
September 12, 1984 |
St. John's, NL |
Brandon Horn |
IF |
March 3, 1983 |
Waterloo, ON |
Mark Johnson |
OF |
September 26, 1985 |
Glencoe, ON |
Paul Koert |
P |
October 10, 1978 |
Brooklin, ON |
Rowan Lam |
IF |
January 25, 1981 |
Glencoe, ON |
Joel Langford |
IF |
October 10, 1988 |
Orleans, ON |
Derek Mayson |
P/IF |
April 16, 1984 |
North Vancouver, BC |
Devon McCullough |
P |
September 28, 1990 |
Saskatoon, SK |
Brennan Pokoyoway |
IF |
July 15, 1982 |
Saskatoon, SK |
Mathieu Roy |
OF |
December 28, 1988 |
St. Gervais, QC |
Jason Sanford |
C/OF |
June 18, 1977 |
Durham, NS |
Andy Skelton |
P/IF |
April 23, 1987 |
Scarborough, ON |
Kris Walushka |
IF |
December 20, 1983 |
Victoria, BC |
Coaching Staff
Position |
Name |
Hometown |
Head Coach |
Don Bates |
Saskatoon, SK |
Assistant Coach |
Les Howey |
Conception Bay, NL |
Assistant Coach |
Bryan Sosnowski |
Leduc, AB |
Assistant Coach |
John Stuart |
Vancouver, BC |
Athletic Therapist |
Brandon Thome |
Cochrane, AB |
Team Leader |
Larry Gould |
Burtts Corner, NB |
Manager - National Teams |
Mike Branchaud |
Ottawa, ON |
Umpire
Name |
Province |
Gary Skjerven |
Saskatchewan |
-SC- For more information, please contact: Gilles LeBlanc Manager - Marketing and Communications Softball Canada (613) 523-3386 ext. 3105 gleblanc@softball.ca
|
|
|