2016 Jr. Men’s Softball World Championship Day 4 Game Summary

Today marked the end of pool play. Eight teams will advance to the playoffs, with the remaining teams enter into the placement round.

At the conclusion of the day, Argentina and United States finished in the top two slots respectively in Pool A, while Japan and New Zealand completed atop Pool B. These four nations will be given two lives in the playoff round, while Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, and Mexico have one life.

The game of the day had to have been Australia vs. United States. The two teams battled for nine innings to determine who would complete the round robin in second place.

Botswana (1-4) vs. Australia (3-1)
1-8 (5 innings)
Box Score

The Junior Steelers made it three wins in a row as Chris Gillies pitched a no-hitter against Botswana.  Australia won 8-0 as Gillies dominated, striking out 15 batters and walking only one.  His offence gave him good support. Three Junior Steelers — Joshua McGovern, Jett Wright and James Purcell — hit home runs.

After Botswana pitcher Samuel Kunyalala opened with a scoreless first inning, Australia opened the scoring in the second when Adam Talarico walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a fielding error.

The floodgates opened in the third inning. Singles by Alex Cleary and Izack Rossi were cashed in by McGovern’s homer, which was soon followed by Wright’s home that gave the Junior Steelers a 5-0 lead.

Purcell led off the fourth with a homer, then Dylan Sheehan and Rossi reached on errors. McGovern’s RBI ground-out scored pinch runner Shaun Lanagan, then another run scored on a wild pitch to complete the scoring.

All that was left was for Gillies to finish the job in the fifth inning, which he did by striking out the side to end the game.

Win: Christopher Gillies
Loss: Samuel Kunyalala

Next Up
Botswana: Thursday at 1:00pm via Israel
Australia: Today at 6:00pm vs. United States

New Zealand (4-1) vs. South Africa (1-3)
16-1 (3 innings)
Box Score

South Africa also entered the game in a must win situation. They were tied for fourth place with Canada in Pool B and a win was required to advance them to the playoff round. But New Zealand ended the mission with a 16-1 blow-out to block South Africa from medal contention.

New Zealand put on a hitting clinic while recording 13 hits for 16 runs in the three inning game.

New Zealand started the game quickly scoring seven runs in the first inning; six runs in the second and three runs in the third made for a lopsided game.

Harrison Valk led all batters to rack up four RBIs on three hits.

The one bright spot for South Africa came in the first inning. Jason Carelse hit a line drive triple to center field to led off the half inning. With two outs, Rian Hatting hit a single to left field allowing Carelse to score for his country’s sole run of the game.

Win: Sam Marley
Loss: Dale Freemantle

Next Up
New Zealand: Thursday at 5:00pm vs. Argentina
South Africa: Today at 8:00pm vs. Canada

Israel (0-5) vs. Canada (2-2)
1-8 (5 innings)
Box Score

Canada improved its record to 2-2 by beating Israel 8-1 in five innings.

Canada opened the scoring in the bottom of the inning when Jake Wiffen led off with a walk and advanced to third on a pair of ground outs before scoring on a double to left by Justin Laskowski. The next batter reached on an error by the second baseman, pushing Laskowski in to score to give Canada an early 2-0 lead.

James Shirley and Mitch Stack each drew walks to start the bottom half of the second before Isaac Lefebvre singled to left to score Shirley. An error on a fly ball to center loaded the bases, with Stack scoring on a passed ball and Alexandre Lemieux earning a walk to load the bases again. Laskowski hit a sacrifice fly to plate a run, with another run scoring on an error as Canada increased its lead to 6-0.

Israel got on the board in the top of the fourth as Kfir Leon reached on a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground ball before scoring on a single by Ben Rosenberg. Canada got that run back immediately in the bottom of the inning when Lemieux led off with a triple to left and scored on another sacrifice fly by Laskowski.

In the fifth, Israel got a pair of singles to start the inning and loaded the bases on a dropped third strike, but Canada got out of it with a double play on a line drive back to Pavey who tossed the ball to third base for the third out. Canada proceeded to load the bases when Stack doubled, Lefebvre walked and Sheldon Beierle was issued an intentional walk before Stack scored on a passed ball to end the game on the run rule.

Win: Colton Pavey
Loss: Yuval Barak

Next Up
Israel: Thursday at 1:00pm vs. Botswana
Canada: Today at 8:00pm vs. South Africa

Japan (5-0) vs. Mexico (2-3)
6-3
Box Score

Japan defeated Mexico 6-3 behind the bat of Takaya Kawaraguchi, who had four RBIs. The win gives Japan the first place seed and Mexico the fourth seed in Pool B as both teams advance to the playoffs.

Mexico could not connect the bat to ball against Takumi Sakai, who allowed only one hit with no earned runs in his three innings of work. Hideki Manns Jaylen got the win in relief as he pitched three innings and allowed two runs.

Japan took the early lead in the second inning, scoring three runs on a solo home run by Kento Morita and a two-run single by Kawaraguchi.

In the third inning, Japan widen their lead to 4-0 when Fumiya Ueda hit a single to center field to score Hiroshi Sakata, followed by another two runs in the fourth inning as Kawaraguchi hit a two-run shot.

After pushing across one run in the bottom of the fourth, Mexico faced a 6-1 deficit on an RBI single by Yeijar Andres Castellon Navarro to score Lenny Josue Villavazo before Japan got Adrian Andres Rodriguez Chavira to strike out to end the threat.

In the fifth, Mexico tried to get things going again. Israel Armando Ayala hit a grounder down the first base line to score Alexis Amador for a 6-2 game.

A one-run seventh inning helped bring Mexico within three. Carlos Menchaca singled up the middle to score Alexis Amador. But a ground Yuto Nakajima ended the game by getting Avila Durazo to hit a liner to center field.

Win: Hideki Manns Jaylen
Loss: Miguel Angel Reyes Olivares

Next Up
Japan: Thursday at 7:30pm vs. United States
Mexico: Thursday at 12:00pm vs. Australia

Australia (3-2) vs. United States (4-1)
3-4 (9 innings)
Box Score

The United States finished in second place in Pool A after a 4-3, extra inning thriller win over Australia in the final pool play match.  With both teams held without a run until the sixth inning, it was the U.S. who ultimately came out on top over Australia following a ninth-inning RBI single by Jonathan Broadbear to score Steven Nessler.

Zane Chason’s six strikeouts over five innings combined with Derek Martin’s two singles lifted the USA over the Junior Steelers after a rain-delayed contest that did not begin until 10 p.m., four hours after its originally schedule start time.

Following a groundout to shortstop Broadbear in the top of the first inning, a strikeout issued by Chason and a fly out caught to left fielder Matthew Martin, USA would return to the dugout and send Bryce DuCharme to the plate. Despite a fly out by DuCharme, USA would mark down the first hit of the game as D. Martin singled to left field. Two-straight strikeouts by Australia’s Luke Ollerenshaw would strand D. Martin on base for USA.

Highlighting the second inning was a diving catch by M. Martin and back-to-back strikeouts from Chason to get a quick 1-2-3 out of the inning. USA retired their batters following another strong performance by Australia’s Ollerenshaw, who issued three-consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the second.

It was another scoreless inning in the third for both sides, as first baseman Brogan Potter made the first two outs for USA  as a grounder and line drive made their way straight to the rookie’s glove. Justin Perez made the third out on a fly out to right field.  Leading off for the U.S. in the bottom of the third, M. Martin found a gap in right center field but would be stranded on third following two fly outs and ground out.

The U.S. looked to strike first in the bottom of the fourth after a leadoff single from Peyton Hall. Isaac Hormann ripped one up the middle but the ball was snagged by Australia to make the double play and end the inning.

It was not until the sixth inning that both teams would connect to score two apiece and keep it a tied ballgame. Nicholas Moore led off with a walk and, one out later, pinch runner Mitch Woodworth scored on a single by Izack Rossi.

The lead doubled soon after, when Alex Cleary walked, stole second and later scored when Jett Wright was hit by a pitch with bases loaded. Australia appeared to have added another run on a sacrifice fly by Adam Talarico, but the umpire ruled that Rossi had left third base early, nullifying the run.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back, one-out singles from DuCharme and D. Martin put two runners on.  The rally looked to be halted after a fielder’s choice recorded DuCharme out at third base for the second out of the inning.  With two outs, Hormann singled to left field to allow the two runners to cross the plate to tie the game at 2-2.

Tied at 2-2 after seven complete innings, the ballgame would go into extra innings with the international tiebreaker (ITB) rule into effect as fans continued to chant the letters, “U-S-A!” calling for a final in USA’s favor.

Both teams would strand their ITB runner in the eighth.

Australia reclaimed the lead in the top of the ninth as Adam Talarico, who had been placed on second and advanced on James Purcell’s sacrifice bunt, scored on a groundout by Blake Bell.  Down to their final at-bat and needing to plate at least one to continue the game, the U.S. did just that and plus one.  A throwing error by the Aussie defense allowed Hormann, who started the inning at second, to advance to third.  A single from Nessler brought Hormann home to tie the game up at 3-3.  The U.S. utilized a two-out rally, as Broadbear connected for a single down the left field line to plate Nessler and earn the U.S. the 4-3 (nine innings) win.

Win: Derek Martin
Loss: Luke Ollerenshaw

Next Up
Australia: Thursday at 12:00pm vs. Mexico
United States: Thursday at 7:30pm vs. Japan

Czech Republic (2-3) vs. Argentina (5-0)
0-10 (4 innings)
Box Score

A six-run explosion in the third inning carried Argentina to a 10-0 win in four innings over Czech Republic to remain undefeated and finish as the top seed in Pool A.

Argentina struck in the first, scoring two runs on a groundout by Pablo Isa.

They scored again in the third on a two-run single by Dario Brajin, RBI singles by Juan Platner and Teo Migliavacca, and two wild pitches.

Conrado Zanuttini racked up two RBIs on one hit for the South Americans.

Agustin Fernandez pitched lights out for Argentina who gave up just one hit and struck out five during his three innings of work.

Win: Agustin Fernandez
Loss: Jiří Šeda

Next Up
Czech Republic: Thursday at 2:20pm vs. Canada
Argentina: Thursday at 5:00pm vs. New Zealand

South Africa (1-4) vs Canada (3-2)
1-8 (5 innings)
Box Score

Canada finished third in Pool B following an 8-0 win in five innings against South Africa. The Canadian team had defeated Israel 8-1 earlier in the day and saw their evening game delayed until 10:00pm after a thunderstorm hit the area late in the afternoon.

Jordan Hudson started the game on the right foot, striking out the side in the top half of the first before Canada opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the frame. Avery Arsenault drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third when the catcher threw the ball into the outfield, and scored on an error by the centerfielder.

South Africa drew a one-out walk of its own in the second with the runner stealing second, but he was left stranded after a pair of strikeouts. Justin Laskowski led off the bottom of the inning with a single and advanced to second when Hudson reached on an error. The runners advanced on another error before Laskowski scored on a wild pitch, and James Shirley grounded out to second to score Hudson from third as Canada took a 3-0 lead.

Both teams got leadoff walks in the third but only sent three batters to the plate, as both runners were called out for leaving the bag early.

South Africa managed its only hit of the game in the top of the fourth on a one-out single to left, but Hudson got a ground out and a fly out to end the inning. Canada added five runs to its lead on the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. Laskowski led off with a double to center and was replaced by pinch-runner Jake Wiffen who advanced to third on a wild pitch before a walk and a stolen base by Hudson put runners on second and third. Isaac Lefebvre dropped a safety squeeze for a single to score Wiffen, followed by a hit by pitch to load the bases with one out. Arsenault walked to bring a run to the plate and Alexandre Lemieux delivered a base clearing double to center to drive in three and give Canada a big 8-0 lead.

Hudson struck out the side again in the top of the fifth to end the game on the run rule.

Win: Jordan Hudson
Loss: Vernon Hurter

Next Up
Canada: Thursday at 2:30pm vs. Czech Republic
South Africa: Thursday at 3:30pm vs. Denmark