Palmerston North, New Zealand – The Canadian U18 Men’s National Softball Team lost their third consecutive game, dropping a 10-0 decision to Argentina in five innings to end the preliminary round at the WBSC U18 Men’s World Cup. Argentina limited Canada to only one hit and broke a scoreless game open with a six-run third inning before cruising to the win.
 
Canada retired Argentina in order quickly in the top of the first inning, and Ryan Bicknell (Prince Albert, Sask.) started the bottom of the inning with a four pitch walk. Bicknell stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch and Connor Brooks (Napanee, Ont.) forced a walk, but Canada was unable to push either runner in to score after going down on a lineout and two strikeouts. Argentina got a two-out baserunner with a walk in the second but Reese Yantzi (Shakespeare, Ont.) struck out the next batter looking, and Canada was retired in order as the game was scoreless through two innings of play.
 
Argentina got the first hit of the game with a single to left to lead off the top half of the third, and the runner advanced to third after a pair of passed balls before scoring on a single past second base. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner up to second, and the next batter hit a tough ground ball to second that was tracked down but the throw was off the mark at first, allowing a second run to score and the batter to reach third. A wild pitch pushed a third run in to score, and a pair of singles put two runners on base before Argentina hit a three-run homerun to give them a 6-0 lead. Andrew Van Boekel (Bright, Ont.) led off the bottom of the inning with a walk for Canada, but a fly out, a fielder’s choice and a ground out to second left a runner stranded on base

A throwing error and a single put Argentina’s first two batters on base to start the fourth, and a single into short center field off the handle of the bat bringing the lead runner in to score to extend the lead to 7-0. In the top of the fifth, Argentina loaded the bases on an error, a walk and a single and two more walks brough a pair of runs to the plate, followed by a sacrifice fly as they built a 10-0 lead. Van Boekel broke up Argentina’s no-hitter with a two-out single to left in the bottom of the fifth, but the next batter flew out to end the game on the run-ahead rule.

Box Score: Argentina 10 vs. Canada 0

Yantzi pitched two scoreless inning but ran into trouble in the third, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout in two innings and two thirds. Nathan Running (Innerkip, Ont.) got the final out of the third, but yielded four runs (only one earned) on three hits and three walks, striking out one batter in an inning and two thirds. Brody Fraser (Upper Nine Mile River, N.S.) relieved Running in the fifth, striking out one batter in two thirds of an inning. Canada’s bats were silent for much of the game, as Van Boekel got their only hit with a two-out single in the fifth.

With the loss, Canada (2-3) finished fourth in Group A and was eliminated from the Super Round. Australia (5-0), Argentina (3-2) and the Czech Republic (3-2) earned the top three spots in the group, with Japan (5-0), New Zealand (3-1) and Guatemala (3-2) moving to the Super Round out of Group B. Canada will now carry a 2-0 record into the Placement Round by virtue of their wins over Singapore (1-1) and South Africa (0-2), and will face the three bottom teams of Group B – Mexico (2-0), the United States (1-1) and Denmark (0-2). Matchups and game times will be determined after the final game of the preliminary round between New Zealand and Denmark coming up shortly.

For more information including schedules, live scoring and streaming, visit the tournament website at https://u18mswc.wbsc.org/en/2020.
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For more information, please contact:

Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing & Communications
Softball Canada
p: (613) 523-3386 ext. 3105 | m: (613) 795-1996
w: www.softball.ca | e: gleblanc@softball.ca