Story by Echo Ross Communications, 2014 Junior Men’s World Softball Championship
July 14, 2014 (Whitehorse, YT ) – Three teams remain undefeated after the fourth day of competition at the 2014 ISF Junior Men’s World Softball Championship, but at least one will see their perfect record come to an end on Day 5.
New Zealand continued to showcase their offensive power, doubling Canada 12-6 on 13 hits. Cole Evans belted a two-run homer in the top of the 3rd to give the Junior Black Sox a 3-1 lead.
Canada tied it up shortly after, thanks to a homerun by Justin Boyer. But New Zealand bats really started to heat up after the Canadians replaced starting pitcher Johnathan Baker with Matt Wardrop in the top of the 4th.
A two-run double from Maddix Rice highlighted a six-run inning for the Black Sox, who padded the scoreboard with one more run in the 5th inning.
Eric Healey came on to pitch midway through the 5th, and Canada attempted a late rally. Francois-Charles Rene drove two home with a double in the bottom of the 6th but it wasn’t enough.
The Canadians fall to 2-2, with a big game against Australia ahead on Tuesday. New Zealand sits at 4-0, but they face a tough double-header against Argentina and Japan on Day 5.
Argentina has yet to allow a run at the tournament, their latest shutout a 3-0 win, coming at the expense of the Aussie Colts. Facundo Carril drove in three runs with a double in the bottom of the first, and ace Huemul Mata allowed just one hit in all seven innings pitched.
Japan pitched a shutout of its own, blanking Denmark 7-0. Haruki Kinjo drove in two runs on two hits for Japan and now leads the tournament in both hits (10) and RBIs (13).
In other action on Day 4, the USA recorded a big walk-off win over Mexico, improving their record to 3-2. The Americans had a 6-1 lead heading into the sixth inning, but that’s when the Mexicans attempted their comeback.
A wild pitch and two errors cost the USA, as Mexico tacked on five runs in the top of the inning to tie the game. Not able to get anything going offensively in the bottom of the sixth or seventh, the Americans had to come up big in extra innings.
They held Mexico scoreless in the top of the eighth, and then loaded the bases for Tyler Bouley, who drove in the winning run with a base hit. Phillip Zimmerman pitched all eight innings for the USA.
In their early game, Australia (2-3) downed Denmark 13-1. Mason Rossi hit a three-run homer to centerfield for the Aussies while Dylan Rakich drove in two runs. Luke Ollerenshaw pitched all four innings for the win.
Marc Nihoj drove in the lone run for Denmark as they dropped to 1-4.
The Czech Republic picked up their first win of the tournament, downing Singapore 9-1. Marek Maly has two hits, two runs and four RBIs for the Czechs. They now sit at 1-4 while Singapore is 0-5.
Day 5 kicks off with New Zealand and Japan at 12:00 pm Pacific, followed by Singapore and Mexico at 1:30 pm. The Junior Black Sox face Argentina at 5:00 pm and Canada versus Australia is set for 7:30 pm.
For a full schedule, as well as live webcasts and live scoring, visit www.worldfastpitch2014.com
For more information, contact:
Echo Ross
Communications
2014 Junior Men’s World Softball Championship