Prague, Czech Republic – The Canadian Men’s National Team kept its record perfect at 3-0 with a key 4-1 win over Australia at the 2019 WBSC Men’s World Softball Championship. The showdown between #2 ranked Canada and #4 ranked Australia in the WBSC World Rankings began as a fantastic pitching duel between Canada’s Sean Cleary (Harbour Main, N.L.) and Australia’s Adam Folkard until Canada’s bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth and Derek Mayson (North Vancouver, B.C.) broke the ice with a three-run homerun.
Both teams were retired in order in the first, and Cleary issued a leadoff walk in the second but got a lineout, a strikeout and the runner on first was called out for leaving the base early on a steal attempt for the third out. Team Canada went down on a pair of pop outs on the infield and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless through two innings of play.
Cleary and Folkard kept the opposing batters off-balanced once again in the third. After striking out the first two batters in the fourth, Cleary allowed a single up the middle by Nick Shailes for the game’s first hit, but he struck out the next batter to end the inning. In the bottom of the frame, Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, Que.) and Bradley Ezekiel (Harbour Main, N.L.) hit back-to-back singles before Mayson smacked a three-run blast over the centerfield fence to open the scoring and give Canada a 3-0 lead.
Australia got another leadoff walk in the top of the fifth, but Cleary retired the next three batters to leave the runner stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Kris Walushka (Victoria, B.C.) laced a one-out single to right field and later scored on a double over the left fielder by Bradley Ezekiel to increase the lead to 4-0.
The Aussie got a solo homerun in the top of the sixth to break the shutout, but Cleary retired the next two batters and sat Australia down in order in the seventh to secure the complete game win.
Box Score: Canada 4 vs. Australia 1
Cleary fired a two-hitter, allowing only one run and walking two batters while striking out 10 to earn his second win of the tournament. Mayson’s three-run homerun was the key hit Canada needed offensively, with Ezekiel’s RBI double serving as insurance. Ezekiel, Roy and Walushka all added singles and each scored a run.
In other action on Sunday, the Netherlands defeated Singapore 13-0, Cuba downed Botswana 6-0, Argentina shut out the Philippines 15-0, Venezuela edged Denmark 1-0, Mexico upset New Zealand 5-4, the United States beat South Africa 8-1 and Japan edged the Czech Republic 4-3.
On Monday, Canada (3-0) will face off against the United States (2-1) at 7:30pm local time (1:30pm EDT) in Havlíčkův Brod. Live scoring is available through the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship website, with live streaming available at FloSoftball.com (paid subscription required).
Both teams were retired in order in the first, and Cleary issued a leadoff walk in the second but got a lineout, a strikeout and the runner on first was called out for leaving the base early on a steal attempt for the third out. Team Canada went down on a pair of pop outs on the infield and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless through two innings of play.
Cleary and Folkard kept the opposing batters off-balanced once again in the third. After striking out the first two batters in the fourth, Cleary allowed a single up the middle by Nick Shailes for the game’s first hit, but he struck out the next batter to end the inning. In the bottom of the frame, Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, Que.) and Bradley Ezekiel (Harbour Main, N.L.) hit back-to-back singles before Mayson smacked a three-run blast over the centerfield fence to open the scoring and give Canada a 3-0 lead.
Australia got another leadoff walk in the top of the fifth, but Cleary retired the next three batters to leave the runner stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Kris Walushka (Victoria, B.C.) laced a one-out single to right field and later scored on a double over the left fielder by Bradley Ezekiel to increase the lead to 4-0.
The Aussie got a solo homerun in the top of the sixth to break the shutout, but Cleary retired the next two batters and sat Australia down in order in the seventh to secure the complete game win.
Box Score: Canada 4 vs. Australia 1
Cleary fired a two-hitter, allowing only one run and walking two batters while striking out 10 to earn his second win of the tournament. Mayson’s three-run homerun was the key hit Canada needed offensively, with Ezekiel’s RBI double serving as insurance. Ezekiel, Roy and Walushka all added singles and each scored a run.
In other action on Sunday, the Netherlands defeated Singapore 13-0, Cuba downed Botswana 6-0, Argentina shut out the Philippines 15-0, Venezuela edged Denmark 1-0, Mexico upset New Zealand 5-4, the United States beat South Africa 8-1 and Japan edged the Czech Republic 4-3.
On Monday, Canada (3-0) will face off against the United States (2-1) at 7:30pm local time (1:30pm EDT) in Havlíčkův Brod. Live scoring is available through the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship website, with live streaming available at FloSoftball.com (paid subscription required).
