XI Men’s Softball Pan American Championship
Parana, Argentina – After a nearly three-year hiatus since competing at the 2019 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in the Czech Republic, the Canadian Men’s National Team has arrived in Parana, Argentina to compete in the 2022 WBSC Americas XI Men’s Softball Pan American Championship. The tournament will run from April 24-30 with the top four teams earning spots for the 2022 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup, which is scheduled to be played November 26 to December 4, 2022 in New Zealand.
The XI Pan American Championship will feature ten teams divided into two pools based on the final standings from the previous Pan American Championship held in 2017. Canada is currently ranked No. 6 in the Men’s Softball World Rankings and will compete against No. 2 Argentina, No. 7 USA, No. 37 Colombia, and unranked Puerto Rico in their pool. Team Canada will open the tournament against Colombia at 3:00pm local time (2:00pm EDT) on Sunday, April 24.
The other pool will feature No. 8 Mexico, No. 11 Venezuela, No. 12 Guatemala, No. 14 Cuba and No. 35 Dominican Republic.
The top three teams from each pool will advance to the Super Round; they will carry their record against the other two teams that advance from their own division, then play the three advancing teams from the other division. The teams with the top two records after the Super Round will play for gold while the next two will play for bronze, with all four of those teams qualifying for the World Cup.
Team Canada’s roster was previously announced in September. Brett Larson (Irma, Alta.) has been added to the roster with Ryan Boland (St. John’s, N.L.) unable to attend. The team held a training camp in Florida two weeks ago to get ready for the Pan American Championship.
Scott McLaren (Penticton, B.C.) and Mike Morrissey (Peterborough, Ont.) are the two Canadian umpires that were selected to work the event.
At the 2019 World Cup, Canada went undefeated at 7-0 in the round robin, won its quarter-final matchup but lost to Argentina in the semi-final. The red and white defeated New Zealand 2-1 to win the bronze medal, while Argentina went on to beat Japan 3-2 to claim their first Men’s World Cup gold medal.
Prior to the tournament’s opening day on April 24, Canada will play four exhibition games against local club team CEF tonight, followed by Cuba, Argentina’s U23 Men’s National Team and Colombia over the next three days. Game recaps will be posted on the Softball Canada website.
Live streaming for the XI Pan American Championship will be available on Facebook Live through the WBSC Americas and Softball Canada pages, and through the WBSC Americas YouTube page.
Team Canada coverage will be available through the Softball Canada website and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Athletes:
First Name Last Name Home Town
| Bryan | Abrey | Richmond, B.C. |
| Shane | Boland | St. John’s, N.L. |
| Patrick | Burns | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Sean | Cleary | Harbour Main, N.L. |
| Bradley | Ezekiel | Harbour Main, N.L. |
| Jason | Hill | St. John’s, N.L. |
| Blake | Hunter | Nanaimo, B.C. |
| Cory | Jones | Leduc, Alta. |
| Brett | Larson | Irma, Alta. |
| Justin | Laskowski | Warman, Sask. |
| Derek | Mayson | North Vancouver, B.C. |
| Devon | McCullough | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Tyler | Pauli | Mitchell, Ont. |
| Zach | Pierce | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Mathieu | Roy | St-Gervais, Que |
| Colin | Walsh | Petty Harbour, N.L. |
COACHING STAFF
Position Name Hometown
| Head Coach | John Stuart | Merritt, B.C. |
| Assistant Coach | Doug Allin | Peachland, B.C. |
| Assistant Coach | Jeff Ellsworth | St. Lawrence, P.E.I. |
| Assistant Coach | John Hill | St. John’s, N.L. |
| Assistant Coach | Les Howey | Conception Bay, N.L. |
| Athletic Therapist | Adam Davies | Ottawa, Ont. |
| Manager – MNT | Mike Branchaud | Ottawa, Ont. |
Umpires
First Name Last Name Hometown
| Scott | McLaren | Penticton, B.C. |
| Mike | Morrissey | Peterborough, Ont. |
EXHIBITION GAMES
(Dates/times converted to Eastern Daylight Time)
| April 19 | Canada vs. CEF | 6:00pm EDT |
| April 20 | Canada vs. Cuba | 6:00pm EDT |
| April 21 | Canada vs. Argentina U23 | 4:00pm EDT |
| April 22 | Canada vs. Colombia | 2:00pm EDT |
PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
(Dates/times converted to Eastern Daylight Time)
April 24Canada vs. Colombia2:00pm EDTApril 25Canada vs. Argentina8:00pm EDTApril 26Canada vs. Puerto Rico8:00am EDTApril 27Canada vs. United States3:00pm EDTApril 28-29Super RoundTBDApril 30Medal RoundTBD
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