(Auckland, New Zealand) The Canadian Men`s National Team locked up first place in Pool B by defeating the Netherlands by a score of 7-0 in five innings at the ISF XIII Men’s World Championship. Jeff Ellsworth (St. Lawrence, PEI) went three-for-three with two homeruns, a single and three runs batted in and Kevin Schellenberg (Squamish, BC) added a single and three RBI`s, while pitcher Jason Hill (St. John’s, NL) fired a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts to lead Team Canada to the victory.
Hill went right to work in the top of the first inning, notching a strikeout, followed by a walk, a groundout and another strikeout. In the bottom of the inning, Canada got things started offensively with two outs. After the two first batters flew out to left field, Ellsworth launched a solo homerun over the right field fence to open the scoring. Brad Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL) then fouled off three two-strike pitches before drawing a walk, Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) was hit by a pitch, and Stephen Mullaley (Freshwater, NL) walked on four pitches to load the bases. Schellenberg then delivered a two-run single to right-center field to increase the lead to 3-0.
After Hill quickly struck out the side in the top of the second, Canada also went down in order on three fly outs. The Netherlands managed to get a one-out hit in the third, but the next batter grounded out and Hill struck out the following hitter to leave a runner on base. In the bottom half of the inning, Ellsworth led off with his second homerun of the game, followed by a walk to Ezekiel who moved up to second on a wild pitch. Mullaley doubled to put runners at second and third, and Schellenberg hit a sacrifice fly to right field as Canada took a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Dutch went down in order again on two more strikeouts and a groundout. Canada added to its lead in the bottom of the inning, as Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, QC) hit a one-out single and Andy Skelton (Scarborough, ON) was hit by a pitch before Ellsworth produced his third RBI of the game with a single to score Roy from second. After the Netherlands went down in order again in the top of the fifth, Mullaley led off the bottom of the frame with a solo homerun to give Canada the 7-0 win on the run-ahead rule.
Team Canada registered seven hits against the Netherlands, led by two homeruns and a single by Ellsworth. Mullaley added a double and a homerun, while Schellenberg had a single and two runs batted in. Roy had the other Canadian hit. In the pitcher`s circle, Hill earned the five inning win, allowing only one hit and a walk with 10 strikeouts.
Box Score and Play by Play: Canada 7 vs. Netherlands 0 (5 innings)
Team Canada (6-1) finished first place in Pool B with the win, and will open the playoff round against Venezuela (5-2; second place in Pool A) at 2:00am EST early on Friday morning. Both teams have earned double lives in the playoff round.
Other scores on the final day of round robin play were: the United States earned a 4-1 win over Great Britain; Venezuela beat Indonesia 7-0; Argentina blanked Colombia 1-0; and Samoa defeated South Africa 8-0. Late games included Australia taking on the Czech Republic, Mexico against Japan and New Zealand taking on the Philippines.
Tournament Standings (from the International Softball Federation website)
Live Streaming All playoff games will be streamed LIVE
All live streaming is a pay to access service for the cost of $5 USD per day. Details are available at the official tournament website: http://www.softball2013.com/.
iscore – Live Scoring Updates
iscore Softball is the easiest way to track the Tradestaff ISF Men’s World Softball Championships. It has everything you need to track and review a game and does not require you to buy any software – this free service will be available at the following link: www.softball.org.nz/Tradestaff+WSC+2013+Results.html
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Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca