Parana, Argentina - The Canadian U23 Men’s National Softball Team suffered a tough 5-1 loss to Japan in seven innings in game three of the U23 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup. Japan came into today’s game undefeated, having beaten Team WBSC and Israel.

Getting the start in the circle for Team Canada was Jordan Hudson (Saskatoon, Sask.), but Japan’s hitters came out swinging and made it 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning after capitalizing on Canada’s miscues. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Canada made a pitching change and brought in Reese Yantzi (Shakespeare, Ont.). Yantzi worked four innings in the 2-0 loss to Venezuela in game one. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Japan reached on a fielding error, resulting in an eventual run to make it 3-0. Japan then hit a triple to left field, adding two more runs to make it 5-0. 

Isaac Lefebvre (St-Leonard-d’Aston, Que.), got Canada on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a home run to deep right field, cutting the deficit to four. 

Canada made another pitching change in the bottom of the fifth inning - Riley Manion (Napanee, Ont.), for Yantzi. 

Canada needed a big seventh inning to get back into the game but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be and the game finished 5-1. 

Canada’s (1-2) next game will be against New Zealand at 5:30pm ART on Tuesday, April 18.

Live scoring will be available through the WBSC U23 Men’s Softball World Cup Championship site, with live streaming available through GameTime.sport. 

Team Canada coverage is available through the Softball Canada website and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.