This Month's News
July2015

USA Men place 9th overall at WBSC Men's World Championships in Canada

July 6, 2015

Saskatoon, SK

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 6, 2015

 

USA Men place 9th overall at WBSC Men’s World Championships in Canada

 

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada – The USA Men’s National team collected two victories on its final day of competition at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s World Championships in Canada earning a 9th place overall finish at the World Championships.  The Red, White and Blue defeated Guatemala 4-0 in day one on Saturday and closed out its tournament run with a 4-3 victory over Mexico.  In addition, the U.S. added another victory on Saturday due to a forfeit from Indonesia.

 

The U.S. team finished the week with a 7-3 overall record.  Derrick Zechman (Watsontown, Penn.) led the way going 6-for-21 (.286) with one home run and five RBI throughout the week.

 

“We certainly didn't finish were we wanted at the World Championships,” said head coach Denny Bruckert (Gillespie, Ill.).  “The two close losses to Japan 5-4 and to Venezuela 3-2 were the difference in making the playoff round. I really thought we played well except the lost to Australia.  The Venezuela loss was really hard as I thought we did outplay them but calls sure didn't fall our way. We regrouped and played three really nice ball games to end on a positive note that will give us momentum for the Pan American Games.”

 

Up next for the U.S., the men will train before making their return to the Pan American Games when they journey to Toronto, Canada for the July 12-20 competition. This marks the first time since 2003 that Men’s Fast Pitch will be included in the Games.  The Men kick off the action on July 12 with a 2 p.m. (EST) match up against Dominican Republic.  Click the link below to follow from Toronto for both the Men’s and Women’s competition.

 

Pan American Games Event Page

 

GAME ONE: USA 4 GUATEMALA 0

Box Score

 

A magnificent effort by Gerald Muizelaar (Grand Forks, N.D.) led Team USA to a 4-0 win in seven innings over Guatemala on Saturday.

 

Muizelaar racked up 12 strikeouts in the victory stifling the Guatemala batters allowing just three hits over seven shutout innings.  Jorge Segura was the game's losing pitcher for Mexico as he tallied just four innings, walked five, struck out six, and allowed four runs.

 

The lead stayed with USA Men's National Team after the third, when they scored three runs on two errors.  Chris Miljavic (Easton, Mo.) led the inning with a hit by pitch before Chris Heinlein (Columbia, Mo.) walked putting two on with no outs. A pitching error by Mexico then pushed Miljavic across for the first run of the inning before Heinlein scored run No. 2 and Palazzo No. 3 from a an error from the right fielder.

 

Quiet in the fourth, the U.S. offense plated its fourth and final run of the shut out in the fifth inning. Nate Devine (Sonora, Calif.) led the inning with a single to right field and advanced on two outs before Kevin Castillo (Long Beach, Calif.) connected on a sacrifice fly out for the final run of the game.

 

GAME TWO: USA 4 MEXICO 3

Box Score

 

In game two the U.S. jumped ahead early with a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back to capture the placement bracket championship at the WBSC Men's World Championship. Zechman went 1-for-3 with two RBI in the victory while starting pitcher Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.) recorded 12 strikeouts, allowing three earned runs and two walks.  Six U.S. batters contributed a hit a piece in the placement game victory.

 

Mexico pushed a run across in the second inning and two in the fourth mounting a comeback to tie the game, but the U.S. used the bottom of the sixth to seal the 4-3 win.

 

Click here for full coverage from the WBSC Men's World Championship

 

About ASA/USA Softball

Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visithttp://www.asausasoftball.com/.

 

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Headquartered in the Olympic Capital city of Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was established in April 2013 and granted recognition as the sole competent authority in baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee at the 125th IOC Session in September 2013. The WBSC represents a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes worldwide. The WBSC governs all international competitions involving any of the National Teams of its 141 National Federation members.  The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships, The Premier 12, the World Baseball Classic, and the U12, U15, U18, U21 and Women's Baseball World Cups.  For further information, please go to www.WBSC.co or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC..

 

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817

 

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