Rivals Canada and the USA met in the final match of Day 3 at the 2014 Junior Men’s World Softball Championship, treating fans at the Pepsi Softball Centre to a real nail-biter.
Canada was looking to rebound from their loss against Argentina Saturday and they came out strong, building up a 7-1 lead thanks in part to dominant pitching from Tyler Randerson and a two-run homer by Francois-Charles René. Randerson was throwing solid strikes and had a no-hit bid going until the top of the sixth, when USA’s Justin Perez smacked a solo homerun to centre field.
After pitching out of a jam, Canada entered the seventh inning still leading by six, but that’s when the Americans began an incredible rally. In an error-filled top half, the USA brought home seven runs to take an 8-7 lead.
Tyler Bouley started things off with a single, and after Randerson allowed five more runs, Eric Healey took over on the mound for Canada. The Americans kept coming, scoring two more on an error and a walk.
Down by one in the bottom of the inning, with the hometown crowd on the edge of their seats – and their last nerves, Canada put their own rally caps on. Taylor Schubada hit a ground-rule double to start the inning, and was brought in on a single by Curtis Piecowye to tie the game. Then with the bases loaded, Tyson Zehr drove in Piecowye for the winning run.
“Canadians never quit,” Zehr stated after the game. “We have heart.”
Neither team showed any quit on this night. The loss drops the USA to 2-2, while Canada improves to 2-1.
Argentina sits atop the tournament standings at 4-0 after blanking Singapore 7-0 in their second game of the day. Lighuen Angiolillo had two hits and three RBIs for Argentina, while Julian Fernandez pitched four shutout innings and Franco Gini closed out the game. Tam Joshua and Tan Ivan had the lone hits for Singapore.
Seven was Argentina’s lucky number Sunday, as they beat the Czech Republic by that same score in their first matchup. Roman Godoy picked up the win, tossing five innings, while Teo Migliavacca and Alan Peker each had two runs and two hits.
New Zealand and Japan also remained undefeated, at 3-0.
Japan took on a powerful hitting team in Mexico, but pitcher Kento Okazaki was in fine form, limiting the Mexicans to just one hit and two runs in a 10-3 victory. Okazaki also hit a two-run homer for Japan, pitching 6 innings before being replaced by Ukon Iwamatsu.
Mexico scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, and tacked on one more in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough. Enrique Gomez led the Mexicans with two RBIs. They drop to 2-1 on the tournament.
New Zealand run-ruled Denmark 18-0 to keep their perfect record intact. Cole Evans had two hits, including a three-run homer, for a total of four RBIs. Blake Radford pitched all three innings for the Black Sox, allowing just one hit.
Australia picked up their first victory in the first game of the day, downing Singapore 9-2. Ben Jager and Dylan Rakich both hit triples for the Aussies, picking up two RBIs, while Josh Hartwig also drove in two runs. Anthony Henderson threw four solid innings.
Day 4 opens with Australia facing Denmark at Noon Pacific, while Mexico takes on the USA at 3:30 pm and Canada aims to hand New Zealand its first loss in the late match (7:30 pm).
