Parana, Argentina – With a quick turnover from last night’s game that ended in the early morning hours, the Canadian Men’s National Team were back on the field at noon local time and thumped Puerto Rico 10-1 in five innings at the XI Pan American Championship. Canada scored in each of the first four innings including six-run third to put the game out of reach.
 
Devon McCullough (Saskatoon, Sask.) got the start in the pitcher’s circle and struck out the side in the top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Canada put two runners on base on a single by Bradley Ezekiel (Harbour Main, N.L.) and a walk before Colin Walsh (Petty Harbour, N.L.) lined a two-run triple to the right-center gap to open the scoring. The following inning, Justin Laskowski (Warman, Sask.) – making his first start – lined a hard shot past the first baseman for a single and later scored on a single to left by Derek Mayson (North Vancouver, B.C.) to give Canada a 3-0 lead.
 
Puerto Rico scored a run in the top of the third when the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and scored on a double past a diving Mathieu Roy (St-Gervais, Que.) in left field to cut the lead to 3-1. However, Walsh connected with a solo homerun to center to lead off the bottom of the frame, followed by a single by Shane Boland (St. John’s, N.L.) and a run-scoring triple that rolled into the left field corner by Patrick Burns (Saskatoon, Sask.). Another solid single by Laskowski brough Burns in to score, and after a single by Roy and a walk by Mayson loaded the bases, Laskowski scored on a wild pitch and Blake Hunter (Nanaimo, B.C.) delivered a two-run single to left to give Canada a commanding 9-1 lead.
 
Zach Pierce (Saskatoon, Sask.) came on in relief of McCullough to start the fourth and struck out two batters, with Canada adding its tenth run on an error in the bottom of the inning. Pierce closed the game out by striking out the side in the top of the fifth to end the game on the run rule.
 
Box Score: Canada 10 vs. Puerto Rico 1
 
For the third consecutive game, Walsh opened the scoring for Canada and finished the game with a homerun, a triple and three runs batted in. Laskowski collected three singles and drove in one, with Burns adding an RBI triple and Hunter contributing a two-run single. Roy and Mayson each drove in one with a single, while Ezekiel singled and scored twice and Boland wen 1-for-1 with a single, two walks and two runs scored. McCullough picked up the win allowing one run on two hits and a walk, striking out 8 batters over three innings. Pierce issued one walk and struck out five in two innings of relief.
 
Canada improved it’s first-place record in Pool B with a 3-0 record and will close out the preliminary round against the United States (2-0) at 3:00pm EDT on Wednesday.
 
Earlier this morning, the United States defeated Puerto Rico (0-3) 19-9 in four innings and Venezuela (1-1) beat Guatemala (1-3) 13-3 in six innings.
 
Live streaming for the XI Pan American Championship is available on Facebook Live through the WBSC Americas and Softball Canada pages, and through the Softball Premier TV YouTube page.
 
Team Canada coverage is available through the Softball Canada website and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.