Canada Crowned WBSC Men’s
World Softball Champions!

(Saskatoon, SK) The Canadian Men’s National Team faced a difficult task needing to win a pair of games on Championship Sunday of the WBSC Men’s World Softball Championship, but the bats that were on fire all week kept rolling until the very end as Team Canada defeated Venezuela 10-0 to earn another shot at New Zealand before fighting back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat the Kiwis 10-5 in the Gold medal game. Although everyone contributed to the offensive onslaught, two players in particular had an unbelievable day at the plate to lead Canada to its first Gold medal at the event since 1992; Brad Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL) had two homeruns, a triple and seven runs batted in and Steve Mullaley (Freshwater, NL) connected for four homeruns and drove in nine runs in the two games.
 
In the first game, Canadian pitcher Sean Cleary (Harbour Main, NL) got things started on the right foot, inducing two ground balls and striking out one batter in the top of the first inning. His team’s offence went to work in a big way in the bottom of the inning as Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, QC) led off with a single to second base followed by a two-run homerun to left-center field by Ezekiel on a full count pitch. Jeff Ellsworth (St. Lawrence, PEI) followed by beating out a bunt single and Mullaley smacked another two-run shot to center. After a couple of pop outs, Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) hit a ground ball up the middle and slid in to second as the centerfielder did not get to it quick enough and Ryan Boland (Goulds, NL) drew a walk. Brandon Horn (Waterloo, ON) then lined a pitch into right to score Fehrman from second and moving Derek Mayson (North Vancouver, BC) – who replaced Boland on the bases as a courtesy runner for the catcher – up to third before Roy hit a ground ball up the middle to score Mayson, but Horn was thrown out at home. The damage was done as Canada took a 6-0 lead right out of the gate.
 
In the second inning, Cleary struck out the side and Canada got a leadoff walk that was wiped out on a double play followed by a strikeout for a quick inning. Cleary kept rolling in the third with two more strikeouts and a fly out to center to keep the Venezuelan bats at bay. Andy Skelton (Scarborough, ON) reached on an error followed by a bunt single by Mayson. After double play, Boland singled through the right side of the infield to bring Skelton in to score. Horn hit an infield single and Roy walked to load the bases, and Ezekiel cleared them with an opposite field three-run triple to the right field fence to increase the lead to 10-0.
 
Venezuela managed to load the bases on a single, an error and a walk in the fourth, but Cleary got three big strikeouts to end the game on the run rule.
 
Box Score: Canada 10 vs. Venezuela 0
 
Cleary fired a four inning one-hitter for Canada, walking one batter and striking out nine. Ezekiel hit a homerun and a triple to drive in five runs to pace the bats, with Mullaley adding a two-run blast. Roy got a double and a single with Horn chipping in a pair of singles. Other hits went to Ellsworth, Fehrman and Boland.
 
In the Gold medal game, Cleary issued a leadoff walk followed by a single over the third baseman to put runners on second and third before a two-run single up the middle gave New Zealand an early 2-0 lead. Canada turned a great double play followed by a ground out to end the top half of the first. Roy stayed hot at the plate by hitting a leadoff single to center but was retired on a double play, and Ellsworth doubled on a line drive to right, but the next batter struck out.
 
New Zealand got a one-out walk but Cleary bounced back with a strikeout and the runner was caught stealing at second on the very next pitch. In the bottom of the second, Mayson slashed a line drive single to left with one out, but the two next batters struck out to end the inning. In the third, Ben Enoka hit a solo homerun to left-center followed by a walk and a double to the left field corner to increase the lead to 4-0 and forcing a pitching change to bring in Devon McCullough (Saskatoon, SK). McCullough got a ground out but hit the next batter, then intentionally walked the following hitter to load the bases with two outs. A walk forced a run home, but McCullough got a big strikeout to get out of the inning.
 
Needing to get back in the game, Canada got a leadoff double by Horn in the bottom of the third and he scored on a solid single to center by Roy. Ezekiel then sent a two-run blast over the centerfield fence to cut the lead to 5-3. Mullaley followed by crushing another shot over the right field fence to bring Canada within one, and after a strikeout, Mayson smashed a liner off the second baseman for a double to chase Heinie Shannon from the game. Pinch-hitter Ryan Wolfe (Melbourne, ON) was intentionally walked, but the next batter struck out to end the inning.
 
In the top of the fourth, New Zealand got a leadoff walk and sacrificed the runner over to second. The next batter flew out to center followed by a ground out to hold the score at 5-4. In the bottom of the inning, Nik Hayes walked the bases loaded with no outs and Shannon re-entered to pitch, striking out the next hitter before Mullaley smacked a GRAND SLAM to center as Canada took its first lead of the game 8-5!
 
New Zealand got a leadoff walk to start the fifth, but McCullough got the next batter to ground into a fielder’s choice followed by a pair of big strikeouts to hold New Zealand once again. Jason Sanford (Durham, NS) hit a one-out single over third and moved up to second on a groundout to first but another ground out ended the inning. New Zealand got a runner on base with an error on a bunt to start the sixth, but McCullough struck out the next batter followed by a line out to left. A wild pitch moved the runner up to second but McCullough fired another strikeout to keep New Zealand from scoring.
 
Ezekiel led off with a walk to start the bottom of the sixth and was sacrificed over to second by Ellsworth before Mullaley launched his third homerun of the game deep to center for a two-run blast, giving Canada a 10-5 lead. Down to their last at-bat, New Zealand hit a leadoff triple but McCullough fed off the crowd and struck out the next batter. He issued a one-out walk, but again dug deep in front of a large supportive crowd to strike out the next two batters to end the game and give Canada its fourth Men’s World Softball title.
 
Box Score: Canada 10 vs. New Zealand 5
 
Starting his second game of the day, Cleary pitched two innings and a third, yielding five runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two. McCullough earned the win with an incredible performance, allowing only a hit and four walks while sitting down eight batters on strikes in four innings and two thirds of relief. Mullaley contributed to most of Canada’s offence smashing three homeruns and driving in seven runs, with Ezekiel adding a two-run bomb. Roy and Mayson each had a pair of hits, with Ellsworth, Sanford and Horn also chipping in with one.
 
The Gold medal win is Canada’s first since 1992, which also came at the hands of a win over New Zealand. The Black Sox have won six World titles, including the previous one in 2013 in front of their own hometown fans in Auckland, New Zealand. Team Canada’s bats proved to be the difference at this year’s event, as the team led the tournament with 48 runs scored in six games in the preliminary round and another 33 in four playoff games, and also hitting for an incredible team batting average of .428 in the preliminary round.
 
Team Canada will celebrate this great accomplishment over the next few days, and will be right back in action when they compete at the 2015 Pan American Games in Ajax, ON next week from July 12 to 18, with their sights clearly set on double Gold.