September 17, 2017
Canada Opens X Pan American Men’s Softball Championship with Win
Softball Canada – Santo Domingo, D.R. – The Canadian Men’s National Team opened the X Pan American Men’s Softball Championship with a 20-0 win over Costa Rica in four innings. Canadian pitchers Jason Hill (St. John’s, N.L.) and Devon McCullough (Saskatoon, Sask.) combined for a perfect game, while the offence produced five homeruns including four in a 12-run fourth inning for the run rule win.
Team Canada loaded the bases in the top of the first on a single by Kris Walushka (Victoria, B.C.), a walk by Hill and a hit by pitch to Bryn Redhead(Leduc, Alta.) before Patrick Burns (Saskatoon, Sask.), Ty Sebastian(Brussels, Ont.) and Ben Wideman (Fergus, Ont.) all drew walks to bring three runs in to score. The following inning, Walushka led off with a single to center and advanced to third after a walk and a hit by pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Bryan Abrey (Richmond, B.C.). Meanwhile, Hill made quick work of the Costa Rica batters by striking out the side in each of the first two innings.
Burns led off the third with a single to left but was erased on a fielder’s choice. Blake Underwood (Port Elgin, Ont.) later hit a run-scoring single left, followed by an infield single by Walushka before Kyle Ezekiel (Holyrood, N.L.) hit a three-run blast over the centerfield fence to give Canada a 8-0 lead.
The red and white sent sixteen batters to the plate in the fourth. Abrey got things going with a leadoff homerun to center, followed by a double to left-center by Redhead and a pair of walks to load the bases. Wideman hit a sacrifice fly before pinch-hitter Kyle Cowick (Sooke, B.C.) crushed a three-run shot to center. Walushka followed up by connecting with his fourth single of the game with Hill later drawing a walk before a double by Abrey pushed Walushka across the plate. Redhead stepped up and hit a deep three-run homerun to make the score 17-0. Canada was not done there, as Burns smacked a double followed by a walk and Wideman hit a three-run shot of his own to round out the scoring. McCullough came in to pitch the fourth inning and struck out the side to end the game.
Box Score: Canada 20 vs. Costa Rica 0
Wideman connected with a homerun and drove in five runs for Canada, while Ezekiel, Redhead and Cowick each hit three-run shots. Abrey picked up a homerun and a double and drove in three, Burns picked up two hits and two walk with Walushka sparking the offence with four singles. Hill struck out six batters over three innings of work while McCullough struck out three in one inning of relief.
Other scores on the first day of competition were:
Argentina 5 vs. Panama 0
Cuba 7 vs. Colombia 0
Guatemala 15 vs. Belize 0
Puerto Rico 12 vs. Aruba 2
Dominican Republic 15 vs. Brazil 0
Team Canada (1-0) will return to action against Panama (0-1) at 7:00pm EDT on Saturday. Live webstreaming is available at https://www.internetv.tv/index.php?route=itv2017/product&product_id=1271
Team Canada loaded the bases in the top of the first on a single by Kris Walushka (Victoria, B.C.), a walk by Hill and a hit by pitch to Bryn Redhead(Leduc, Alta.) before Patrick Burns (Saskatoon, Sask.), Ty Sebastian(Brussels, Ont.) and Ben Wideman (Fergus, Ont.) all drew walks to bring three runs in to score. The following inning, Walushka led off with a single to center and advanced to third after a walk and a hit by pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Bryan Abrey (Richmond, B.C.). Meanwhile, Hill made quick work of the Costa Rica batters by striking out the side in each of the first two innings.
Burns led off the third with a single to left but was erased on a fielder’s choice. Blake Underwood (Port Elgin, Ont.) later hit a run-scoring single left, followed by an infield single by Walushka before Kyle Ezekiel (Holyrood, N.L.) hit a three-run blast over the centerfield fence to give Canada a 8-0 lead.
The red and white sent sixteen batters to the plate in the fourth. Abrey got things going with a leadoff homerun to center, followed by a double to left-center by Redhead and a pair of walks to load the bases. Wideman hit a sacrifice fly before pinch-hitter Kyle Cowick (Sooke, B.C.) crushed a three-run shot to center. Walushka followed up by connecting with his fourth single of the game with Hill later drawing a walk before a double by Abrey pushed Walushka across the plate. Redhead stepped up and hit a deep three-run homerun to make the score 17-0. Canada was not done there, as Burns smacked a double followed by a walk and Wideman hit a three-run shot of his own to round out the scoring. McCullough came in to pitch the fourth inning and struck out the side to end the game.
Box Score: Canada 20 vs. Costa Rica 0
Wideman connected with a homerun and drove in five runs for Canada, while Ezekiel, Redhead and Cowick each hit three-run shots. Abrey picked up a homerun and a double and drove in three, Burns picked up two hits and two walk with Walushka sparking the offence with four singles. Hill struck out six batters over three innings of work while McCullough struck out three in one inning of relief.
Other scores on the first day of competition were:
Argentina 5 vs. Panama 0
Cuba 7 vs. Colombia 0
Guatemala 15 vs. Belize 0
Puerto Rico 12 vs. Aruba 2
Dominican Republic 15 vs. Brazil 0
Team Canada (1-0) will return to action against Panama (0-1) at 7:00pm EDT on Saturday. Live webstreaming is available at https://www.internetv.tv/index.php?route=itv2017/product&product_id=1271
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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