Canada's Ty Sebastian pitched five innings during Thursday's 7-3 loss to Argentina, giving up only three runs on three hits while striking out two. (WBSC.org)

By Nick Nielsen

Roy homers for Canada

Peker homers twice to bring Argentina over Canada

Jul 11, 2025 | 9:28 AM

Canada was coming off a big come from behind win over Venezuela to improve to 1-1; Argentina came into the game looking for a win in their final of the round robin stage, and the final game of the night under the lights at the Men’s Softball World Cup in Prince Albert.

Both teams traded home runs in the middle of the game Thursday night, but a late surge in the sixth inning pushed them over Canada 7-3.

The Argentinian’s got a single hit from Alan Peker in the first inning, but he was left stranded as the next three batters grounded out. Canada put three players up to bat, but Argentinian pitcher Huemel Mata struck out two and earned a ground out.

In the second, Canadian pitcher Ty Sebastian struck out two and earned a pop up fly ball on three straight batters to end the top of the inning. In the bottom, Canada would put runners on the corners off two walks and a fielder’s choice ground ball, but the next batter was retired on a fly ball.

In the third, the Argentinians scored after a lead off walk for Federico Eder got him on first. Peker was up to bat for the second time, and he smacked the ball over the right field wall to put Argentina up 2-0. In the bottom of the inning, Canada put men on base with their first two batters, but they’d ground another ball into a double play followed by another ground out.

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On to the fourth where Luciano Biondi lead off with a double to put himself into scoring position. Biondi advanced to third on a flyout to centre, and Biondi would score on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Manuel Godoy. Another ground out on the next at bat, and Argentina was up 3-0 at the halfway mark of the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, a lead off strikeout lead to Blake Hunter hitting a ground ball. Another single from Quinten Bruce put Blake at third, but he wouldn’t get the chance to score after a strikeout. With one out left before the end of the inning, Bruce was sent to the dugout to get his catcher’s gear on, and Colin Walsh would instead run from third to home and put Canada on the board, still down 3-1.

After a groundout ended the fourth for Canada, in the top of the fifth Argentina only put one runner on the base paths before three straight batters were retired. That put Canada back on offense, and Nick White reached second on a bunt and a throwing error. After a groundout, Mathieu came to the plate and ripped a two run shot over the centerfield wall to tie the game 3-3.

That brought a pitching change for the Argentinians, bringing in Matias Etchevers. He’d give up a walk before earning two strikeouts to end the fifth.

In the sixth, Canada brought in Sean Cleary to pitch. The Argentinians got to him early though as Teo Migliavacca started the inning with a bunt, but a bad throw from second to first opened the runway for Migliavacca to reach third. Luciano Biondi would hit a single to score, but two straight strikeouts and a groundout would end the top of the inning. In the bottom, Canada made contact with three straight, but no one reached base and they’d head to the final inning down 4-3.

In the seventh and final inning, Lucio Retamar lead off with a single, and Gian Scialacomo would follow up with a single of his own. That brought Alan Peker to the dish, and he’d hit another no doubt bomb over the wall to put Argentina up 7-3.

Canada had to battle defensively to keep Argentina off the board through the rest of the inning including a switch to Justin Schofield in the pitching circle, but Peker’s second home run and third hit of the game served as the nail in the coffin to give Argentina their first win 7-3.

Matias Etchevers earned the win for Argentina, pitching 2.2 innings with four strikeouts, no hits, and a single walk on the day.

Canada is now on to the placement rounds on Friday where they will play the Dominican Republic at 5:30 p.m. with both teams bringing in a record of 1-2.

USA and Japan mercy opponents, Venezuela wins over New Zealand

To start the day, the Americans only needed four innings to put away the Dominican Republic with a score of 11-1. It was still 0-0 after the third.

After a scoreless three innings, the Dominican Republic put Juan Arias on second base after he singled and was followed up by a sacrifice bunt. Arias would then score on a single from Pablo Figuereo Oritz, giving them their only run of the game.

Then the Americans came up to bat, and they went through the whole order and then some in one inning. After a leadoff flyout, Cameron Schiller reached base on a single and John Lynch would score Schiller on a single of his own. Then with the bases loaded, Yusef Davis Jr. singled to score two more runs, and Zach Shaw would make it to first on a fielder’s choice after that left runners on first and second.

Jeff Michaels would then make it to first on a throwing error, and a double from Erick Ochoa would score three runs from Michaels, Davis Jr., and Shaw to put the Americans up 6-1. The next two batters were walked, before a single scored another run, leaving two men on base as John Lynch came to the plate for his second at-bat of the inning. He hit a no-doubt three run shot to centre field to end game 11-1.

For the U.S.A., this improved their record to 2-1, while the Dominican Republic dropped to 1-2.

Team New Zealand came into their game with an undefeated 2-0 record, while the Venezuelans were coming off a late game collapse against Canada the previous night. This time, Venezuela earned the win 7-2.

Venezuela took the lead in the second when Rogelio Sequera lead off the inning with a five pitch walk, and Engelbert Herrera hit a double to bring him home. Venezuela kept the momentum going in the top of the third when Angel Andes singled to reach base and took second on a ground out. Sequera was back up to bat, and he singled to bring home Adames to make it 2-0.

Still in the top of the third, the Venezuelans added three more runs when Erwin Diaz walked, and Engelbert Herrera hit a three run shot to bring them all home to earn three more RBIs on the day.

The New Zealanders got on the board in fourth inning after a solo shot from Tomas Enoka, but the inning would end with Beau Jordan being thrown out trying to steal second.

Venezuela lead 5-1 heading into the sixth, and they’d make it 7-1 off of a solo shot from Kleiver Rodriguez Barreto to lead off the inning, and a single from Angel Adames with two men on base to score Edruin Ramirez Figueroa.

Cole Evans would homer for New Zealand in the bottom of the sixth, but that would end the offence from both teams for the night and Venezuela would take the 7-2 win.

Much like the opening game of the day, Japan only needed four innings to put away the defending world champion Australia. Unlike the earlier game though, Japan put their runs up across three innings to win 11-2.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the second inning when Japan came up to bat. Kaito Masaki was hit by a pitch to advance to first, and a flyout lead to Kotaro Yasumi hitting a single to put two runners on with one out. Masaki would then score on a wild pitch, and Yasumi reached home on a double from Taiyo Kataoka.

Still in the second, Seii Kuroiwa and Ryuji Okawa each singled to reach base, then Tei Hamamoto hit the first pitch he saw for a three run homerun.

Australia got their only offence in during the top of the third, using their outs to advance runners before two singles from Callum Beashel and James Todhunter scored runs to make it 5-2 Japan heading into the third.

Japan added a run in the fourth off a solo home run from Kazuyza Masaki, but they’d put up another five spot in the fourth to end the game. Seii Kuroiwa would walk on the first at-bat, leading into a Tei Hammamoto single to score. Then Yusuke Morita hit a two run homerun to make it 9-2.

With two outs, Kaito Masaki would walk to first, and Kazuya Toriyama slashed a two run home run over the left field wall. The Australians were held scoreless in the top of the fifth, ending the game in an 11-2 mercy rule.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com