Team Canada Men’s Softball Team Begins
Pan American Games with Win over Mexico

(Ajax, ON) The Canadian Men’s Softball Team began its 2015 Pan American Games schedule with a 10-5 win over Mexico on Sunday night. The middle of the batting order did most of the damage at the plate for Canada, as Steve Mullaley (Freshwater, NL) picked up right where he left off at the WBSC Men’s World Championship last week by driving in three runs and Andy Skelton (Scarborough, ON) hit the tournament’s first homerun.
 
Mexico managed leadoff singles off Canadian starting pitcher Paul Koert (Stouffville, ON) in each of the first two innings but was unable to open the scoring. After going down quickly in the first, Canada got on the board quickly in the bottom half of the second as Mullaley walked and scored on a two-run shot deep to right field by Skelton. Mexico got one of those runs back in the top of the third on an error, a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly to centerfield, but Koert struck out the next batter. Team Canada went back to work offensively in the bottom of the frame as Jeff Ellsworth (St. Lawrence, PEI) drew a walk, moved up to third on a single by Mullaley and scored on a passed ball. An intentional walk to Skelton put runners on first and second with both advancing on a ground out to the pitcher before Brandon Horn (Waterloo, ON) hit a two-run single to right as Canada built a 5-1 lead.
 
In the top of the fourth, Mexico got two singles to lead off the inning and the runners were sacrificed to second and third. The next batter hit a hard ground ball that was gathered by a diving first baseman but the toss to the second baseman covering the base got away to allow a run to score. Mexico seemed to score its third run on a sacrifice fly ball to centerfield on the very next play, but Canada appealed the tag up at third and the umpire determined that the runner left early, ending the inning with Canada holding on to a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Brad Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL) hit a two-out single followed by a double inside the right field line by Ellsworth to put runners at second and third before Mullaley hit a pitch up the middle for a two-run single. Mullaley stole second and advanced to third on a single by Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) before scoring on an error on a throw to third after the runner behind him was trying to advance, increasing Canada’s lead to 8-2.
 
Both teams went down in order in the fifth, and Mexico made things interesting by scoring three times in the top of the sixth. The first batter reached on an error followed by a single before Ismael Pena hit a two-run triple and scored when the next batter grounded out to the pitcher, making the score 8-5. However, Canada responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to round out the scoring. Ellsworth hit a one-out single to right before scoring on a triple to the left field corner by Mullaley, who later scored on a single to right by Fehrman. Mexico got two singles in the top of the seventh but Derek Mayson (North Vancouver, BC) closed the game out by striking out the last two batters.
 
Box Score: Canada 10 vs. Mexico 5
 
Koert allowed two runs – one earned – by scattering six hits and struck out three batters in three innings and a third for Canada, while Skelton picked up the win, giving up three runs with only one being earned and two hits and also registered three strikeouts. Mayson pitched the seventh inning, allowing a pair of hits and striking out two. Mullaley went 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs batted in and four runs scored and Skelton had a two-run homerun with a pair of walks. Ellsworth registered a double, a single, earned a walk and scored three times, while Fehrman singled twice and drove in two runs. Other hits went to Ezekiel, Horn and Kevin Schellenberg (Squamish, BC).
 
Team Canada (1-0) will be back in action with a game against the United States (1-0) at 7:00pm EDT on Monday. In other scores on the first day of competition, the United States blasted the Dominican Republic 10-0 in six innings and Argentina blanked Venezuela 3-0.