Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
The USA Jr. Men’s team takes on Canada tonight at 8pm (ADT, one hour ahead of eastern time), in a pivotal game in the ISF Jr World Championships in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The young men are coming off a big 8-1 win over Argentina that runs their record to 2-2. They opened the tournament with a win over Czech Republic, then lost to the two-time defending champions, Australia, lost a close one to New Zealand, followed by the win over Argentina.
The top four teams make it to the playoff round this weekend. Right now, the USA Jr. Men sit in fifth place, behind New Zealand (5-0), Australia (4-0), Japan (4-0), and Canada (3-1). Canada still has to play Australia, but the USA still has Japan on the schedule.
Reports out of Summerside indicate that Japan may be the strongest overall team, though Australia with the strongest pitching in Adam Folkard. Folkard is only 19, but busting the radar gun at 80 plus and is “the real deal”. He will pitch with the Fargo IS Knights this summer, alongside Michael White in the ISC World Tournament. Going into the tournament, many prognosticators had Australia, New Zealand and Canada as the favorites, with Japan a question mark. Japan is proving itself, including a win already over Canada, so a win tonight over Canada would go a long way towards their goal of making the medal round “Final Four”.
Four years ago, the team looked overmatched, finishing ninth, so they have already gone a long way to improving on that. One knowledgeable source said that the USA kids look to be the most athletic team in the tournament, just not as much experience as some of the other sides.
It looks like we’ll get some info during the USA vs. Canada game, so watch this post for updated information during the game.
Australia takes on Japan in a 6pm battle of unbeatens. Again, that’s PEI time (ADT), one hour ahead of EST, and 4 hours ahead of us. That translates to a 4pm start for the USA-Canada game on the west coast. I’m told the games are running a little behind, so it might not start right on time.
Click Here to visit the official Website for the ISF Jr. World Championships.