Bahia Blanca, Argentina - The Quick Story:
Team Canada reeled in two hard-fought wins over Venezuela on the final day of competition to earn the bronze medal at the 2025 WBSC Americas U18 Men’s Pan American Championship on Friday after the placement/medal games were moved a day earlier due to heavy rain on Saturday.
Still in the hunt for a spot in the gold medal game, Canada started the day by coming back down 4-1 to defeat Venezuela 8-5. That win put Canada in a three-way tie for first place after the preliminary round after Mexico defeated Argentina later in the day, but Canada was placed third on the WBSC Team Quality Balance (TQB) tiebreaker, setting up a rematch with Venezuela in the bronze medal game where Canada fell behind 6-0 early and battled back to win 7-6 in walk off fashion.
Game 1 – Preliminary Round vs. Venezuela
Key Moments:
Canada got on the board first quickly in the bottom of the first when Jared Picco led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball. Venezuela responded with four runs in the second before Canada came back with two runs in the third, loading the bases with no outs and scoring both runs on a pair of errors. The following inning, Brett Slusar and Maverick Turgeon both hit sacrifice flies to give Canada a 5-4 lead. The red and white added some needed insurance in the bottom of the sixth when Colton Lecuyer led off with a homerun and Will Singer later added a two-run blast.
Notes:
- Canada’s offence produced 12 hits, including two each by Lecuyer, Singer and Rylan Sutherland. Sutherland added a walk and scored twice.
- Seven of those 12 hits went for extra bases: a pair of homeruns by Lecuyer and Singer, three triples by Picco, Sutherland and Mark Tomatuk, and two doubles by Sutherland and Kian Poitras.
- Will Singer earned the win after relieving starter Jeremy Breton, pitching six solid innings allowing two runs and scattering six hits with 11 strikeouts.
Game 2 – Bronze medal game vs. Venezuela
Key Moments:
Canada fell behind early again, committing a total of four errors and allowing four runs in the top of the second and two in the third to go down 6-0. The offence woke up in the bottom of the fourth when Will Singer stepped up and delivered a three-run homerun with two outs to cut the lead in half, then added a two-run double in the sixth before scoring on a single by Mark Tomatuk to tie the game. Canada proceeded to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Kian Poitras worked the count for a walk off walk to give Canada the win.
Notes:
- Will Singer had another big game at the plate to carry the Canadian offence, hitting a homerun and a double to drive in five runs.
- Lecuyer, Poitras, Tomatuk and Nate Wylie each contributed with a single.
- Will Singer started the game in the circle and allowed six unearned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
- Mark Tomatuk earned the win in relief, pitching the last four and a third innings of scoreless relief, allowing four hits and striking out seven batters.
Box Score: Canada 7 vs. Venezuela 6
Canada earned its third straight U18 Men’s Pan American Championship medal after winning gold in 2019 and bronze in 2023.
