First baseman Cory Jones rounds third after hitting a three run homerun against Singapore on Thursday evening. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Day two recap

Canada splits doubleheader on day two of World Cup Qualifiers

Jul 12, 2024 | 12:58 AM

Team Canada had a win and loss following Thursday’s action at the Men’s World Cup Group B Qualifiers in Prince Albert.

Day two saw the Canadians prevail in their first contest over Singapore 7-1 before falling to the World No. 1 Argentina 2-0 in the following game.

Game one began with a bang as Blake Hunter got Canada on the board with a two-out home run in the top of the first.

However, the lead wouldn’t last long as Joshua Tam answered back with a solo shot of his own to tie the game up heading into the second.

Later in the top of the fifth, Singapore went to the bullpen and pulled Marcus Chew for Huzaifie Noorham. Chew finished the game allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts in four innings.

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The pitching change didn’t go the way Singapore had hoped for though as that same inning, Jordan Pomeroy forced a lead off walk which was followed by a Justin Laskowski triple, scoring Pomeroy from first and putting Canada back up by one.

It remained that way until the top of the seventh when Canada’s bats came to life after another Singapore pitching change.

With two outs in the inning, Canada rallied for five runs to push the lead to six, which was highlighted by a Cory Jones three-run blast. The deficit became insurmountable for Singapore, as Canada ran away with it 7-1.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Right after that contest ended, and a quick jersey swap, the Canadians were back on the field to take on the best team in the world, Argentina.

Canada, who are ranked World No. 3, batted first yet again in their second game of the day and continued on the gas from their previous contest. With two gone in the top of the first, Canada managed to get the bases loaded but couldn’t convert as a Cory Jones fly out got Argentina out of the jam.

The next scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the fourth which resulted in Argentina breaking the scoreless deadlock.

Federico Eder was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and in the next at bat, Teo Migliavacca sacrifice bunted to move Eder to second. That was followed by a Manuel Godoy single up the middle, advancing Eder to third which set up Juan Zara to hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Eder to score for the first run of the game.

Canada almost had an answer in the top of the fifth, but left a pair of runners stranded on second and third. The blown opportunity would prove costly as Argentina managed to double the lead the following inning. Lucio Retamar smacked a two-out triple to center field which set up Ladislao Malarczuk to hit a single to right, easily scoring Retamar to make it 2-0.

Unfortunately for Canada, that’s as close as they came as Argentina improved to 2-0 at the tournament, while Canada sits at 2-1.

Justin Schofield was given the start for the Canadians for the second time in the Qualifiers, however this time was credited with the loss. He allowed two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in four and two thirds innings pitched.

Huemul Mata pitched all seven innings for the lone South American squad, allowing four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

Canada is back in action at 7:00 p.m. on Friday when they take on New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Singapore kicks off day three with a doubleheader. Their first contest is at 10:00 a.m. against Israel, while their second will happen against Hong Kong, China at 1:00 p.m.

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Israel falls to 0-3 after back-to-back contests

Canada wasn’t the only team who had a doubleheader on day two as Israel had a pair of games of their own.

Their first contest began at 10:00 a.m. sharp, however it didn’t last as long as you’d think. The game was called in four innings as their opponent, New Zealand, used the long ball to get things out of hand fast.

In the top of the third with N.Z. already up 1-0, Cole Evans launched a grand slam over center field wall to quickly make things 5-0.

The very next inning, New Zealand added another five runs through Pita Rona leading the charge with a three-run homerun.

In their last chance, Israel managed to get a runner on second but couldn’t do anything more, dropping their first game 10-0.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Game two was a bit more promising for the Israelis as they were matching up with the also winless Hong Kong, China.

Hong Kong wasted no time getting on the offence as in the bottom of the first, Corey Ng hit a lead off triple which led into Tak Hei Cheung singling to center in the following at bat, scoring Ng and making it 1-0.

Israel had an answer though as in the top of the second and a runner on third, Oren Bobrov singled to allow Liam Zepelvitch to score, tying the game at one.

Hong Kong didn’t go away nicely as the took the lead right back in the bottom of the second. Shun Hei Ng managed to get walked to lead off the frame and was nearly stranded on first as the next two batters got out. Luckily, Cheung smacked a double to left for his second hit of the afternoon to score Shun. Hong Kong eventually added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Corey Ng sent a pitch over the left field wall to make it 3-1.

Israel managed to answer back in the top of the sixth, getting to within one.

It began with Aviv Yaakov singling to center to lead off the inning. He was then subbed out for Seth Ross as a pinch runner. After the next batter struck out, Bobrov hit a single of his own to left advancing Ross to second. After Kfir Leon walked to load the bases, Yaniv Rosenfeld grounded out to the second baseman which allowed Ross to score, pulling Israel back to within one.

However, the Israelis couldn’t generate anything in the final inning as Hong Kong hung on for the 3-2 win.

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

Along with Singapore, Hong Kong is also playing in a doubleheader on Friday. After the 1:00 p.m. contest, Hong Kong will face Argentina at 4:00 p.m.

All games are played at Rotary Field in Prime Ministers Park.

A list of the standings can be found here.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com