Things are heating at the final day of the preliminary round at 2103 U21 Men’ International Softball Championship. All 12 teams are fighting for final placing in their pool in the hopes of setting themselves up for the championship round which begins tomorrow.
Team Saskatchewan stands alone in the Saskatoon Inn Black Pool after an offensive explosion yesterday produced 34 runs and a pair of wins over NWT 15-8 and Quebec 19-7. Close behind them are Newfoundland and Argentina with 3-1 records. That sets up a huge matchup to determine first place tonight 8:30 at Bob Van Impe Stadium between Saskatchewan and Argentina. Saskatchewan Pitcher Aiden Patrick will get the start. The last time Patrick faced many of these players from Argentina, they beat his Team Canada squad on route to winning the ISF Jr. Men’s World Championship in November.
Another key matchup to keep an eye out for is the 1:00 game at Bob Van Impe Stadium, where two of the favourites New Zealand and Alberta battle it out for what will likely be 2nd place in the Red Al Anderson’s Source for Sports Pool. Ontario sits atop of that pool at 4-0 but a second place finish gives a team 2 lives in the championship round and a little room for error.
The top 4 teams from each pool advance to the championship round. The top 4 teams have been determined in the Red pool as Nova Scotia sits in 4th untouchable at 2-2, but in the Black pool NWT has a shot at the final spot if they can win today against Newfoundland and BC loses to Quebec