Guatemala City, Guatemala – The Canadian U17 Junior Men’s National Softball Team is ready to compete at the 2019 WBSC Americas U17 Men’s Fastpitch Pan American Championship starting tomorrow at Vista Hermosa Stadium in Guatemala City. The event will run from November 2-9, with the top four teams earning a berth to the 2020 WBSC U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in New Zealand.
 
Team Canada travelled to Guatemala on Sunday and played a pair of exhibition games prior to the start of the tournament, defeating Guatemala 9-5 on Tuesday and playing to a 1-1 tie in a rain shortened game on Wednesday. They will play their first tournament game against the United States at 12:00pm CST (1:00pm EST) on Sunday, November 3.
 
Canada hosted the previous WBSC U19 Junior Men’s Softball World Championship in 2018 in Prince Albert, Sask., finishing fourth. The WBSC has changed the age category to U18 starting with the 2020 World Cup that will take place February 22 to March 1, 2020 in Palmerston, New Zealand.
 
The Pan American Championship will include a total of seven teams from the Americas region competing in a full round robin. The teams with the top two records will compete for Gold, with the next two competing for Bronze. All four teams playing in the medal games will qualify for the World Cup.
 
The teams scheduled to compete at the U17 Men’s Pan American Championship are Argentina, Belize, Canada, Guatemela, Panama, Mexico and the United States.
 
Live streaming is expected to be available on the WBSC YouTube page. The event can also be followed through the WBSC Americas social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the #U17SoftballPanam hashtag, as well as the Softbol Guatemala Facebook page.
 
Team Canada coverage will be available through the Softball Canada website and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.