Day 4 – Canada 2 Wins on Walkoff HR by Goldsmith
BY DAN BERLIN – DECEMBER 29, 2011
Goldsmith had 3 hits and 3 RBI Thursday, including the 7th inning walkoff HR
Canada 2 finished off their round-robin schedule in dramatic fashion on Thursday, defeating USA 1 by a score of 5-4 on a walkoff solo-homerun by Stephen Goldsmith with 2-out in the bottom of the 7th inning.Goldsmith’s heroics capped off an impressive day at the plate for the Canadian shortstop, who collected three hits and three RBI in the game off losing pitcher Daniel Winnik of the U.S. Josh Bendahan and Phil Gigan drove in the other runs for Canada.
Equally impressive for Canada was the pitching performance of Kevin Green, making his first ever Maccabi start. Green allowed only four runs over five solid innings of work, by consistently challenging the American batters while mixing up his speeds. Green left the game with the score tied 4-4 in the 6th inning and was replaced by Michael Bronstine, who pitched two shutout innings to collect his first win of the tournament.
With the win, Canada 2 clinches the 2nd seed after round-robin play and now prepares for a rematch vs. USA 1 on Friday morning in the #2 vs. #3 semifinal, scheduled for 11 a.m.
Canada 1, who already secured the #1 playoff seed on Wednesday, appears set to face Panama in the other semifinal, after the Central American nation came through with a stunning 15-4 upset over USA 2 in round-robin play Thursday. Panama needs a win over Venezuela, or a loss not totalling more than 14 runs, in their final round-robin game on Friday morning to finish as the #4 seed.