Team Canada salutes the crowd after putting up a dominant 14-2 win over Australia in their final game of the tournament. (Facebook/WBSC)

By Nick Nielsen

WBSC World Cup Day 5

Roy hits three home runs as Canada puts away Australia

Jul 13, 2025 | 8:13 AM

Playing in the placement round with no chance to play on Sunday, Canada looked to finish strong at the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup on Saturday against the Australians. Canada’s bats were swinging heavy from the start as they took a 14-2 win.

Canada batted first and the first two batters were retired, but a walk from Brad Ezekiel and a single from Ty Sebastian put runners in play. Blake Hunter then hit a single to centre field, and an error on the throw from centre meant two runs could score to give Canada an early lead. Australia’s Callum Beashel lead off the inning with a walk, and eventually managed to score on a wild pitch to end the first 2-1 Canada.

Then came the second inning where Canada’s bats couldn’t fail. Colin Walsh and Nick White each picked up a single to start the inning, and Mitch McKay hit a third single to score a run. With White and McKay still on the base paths and no one out, Mathieu Roy hit the ball over the fence to deep centre field to score three more runs.

Australia then changed pitchers, and Mathew Beckett would get the Australians an out with his first pitch being a fly ball. Canada’s offence kept rolling though with Brad Ezekiel earning a single, then Ty Sebastian walked, and Blake Hunter brought them both home with Canada’s second three-run home run of the inning for Canada to put up seven runs in one inning. Canada’s Ty Sebastian would strike out three straight batters in the bottom of the inning, making it 9-1 Canada heading to the third.

After the lead off batter struck out, Mitch McKay earned a walk, and Mathieu Roy again homered to deep centre field to score two more runs. Canada left two men stranded on base to end the top of the inning, and the Australians battled in the bottom load the bases and even score a run on a walk, but the score would show 11-2 Canada heading to the fourth.

Riderville

They don't hand out the Grey Cup in August

9h ago

Amazing ending

Two Rebeccas tapped out of the Amazing Race

9h ago

HEALTHCARE

'We will not be ignored': CUPE workers rally outside Cockrill's office amid health care strain

11h ago

Again Canada’s offence went to work with a lead off single from Bryan Abrey. Nick White would reach base on a single, and that would bring up Mathieu Roy with two outs. Roy again found a pitch he liked, driving it over the centre field wall, and scored three more runs on his third homer of the game.

That put Canada up 14-2 to mercy Australia and end the game after the fourth, and Ty Sebastian kept the door closed with nine strikeouts on the day with only three walks, and two runs given up on five hits.

Argentina beats Domincan Republic in final placement round game, Venezuela and New Zealand advance to gold medal game

Starting with the final placement round game between Argentina and the Dominican Republic, it looked like the game was going to be a runaway from the start, but Argentina made a quick comeback to win 11-6.

The Dominican scored four runs to start the game in the top of the first with Yoel De Mota scoring from third on a wild pitch, and Fernando Gomez hit a single with the bases loaded to bring home two more. Juan Sanchez scored the fourth run with a single to left, and they’d hold Argentina scoreless in the bottom of the inning to put the Dominican up 4-0.

After a scoreless second inning, Argentina struck back in the bottom of the third with a five run inning to take the lead. With one out, Teo Migliavacca and Ladislao Malarczuk hit back to back solo home runs. Then Federico Olheiser and Khalil Luna would hit back to back run scoring singles. Now with two outs and the bases loaded, Federico Eder came to the plate for the second time in the inning and walked to first base to score another run, making it 5-4 Argentina.

Argentina’s onslaught continued in the fourth with a leadoff home run from Ladislao Malarczuk, and Khalil Luna scored another run on a single. Then with two men on base, Lucio Retamar got in on the offence with a two run scoring single to make it 9-4 Argentina.

Yoel De Mota got the Dominican back on the board with a leadoff home run to start the fifth, and Jendry Torres lead off the sixth with a solo home run of his own to make it 9-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Argentina’s bats then came to the plate and loaded the bases with one man out. They’d score two more runs off of a Teo Migliavacca hit by pitch and an Alan Peker single to finish the 11-6 win for Argentina.

On to the Super Round where the remaining teams were battling for a spot in the gold medal matchup. The USA tried at a late comeback, but Venezuela would hold them off to win 6-4 and advance to the gold medal game.

The first two innings were scoreless, but Venezuela got on board in the bottom of the third. Rafael Flores got to first on a single, and two batters and two outs later Angel Adames homered to put Venezuela on the board 2-0.

The USA was again held off the board in the top of the fourth, and Venezuela’s offence went back to work. Kleiver Rodriguez hit a solo home run with one out. Then with one man on, Rafael Flores hit another single, and an error on the throw gave Edruin Ramirez the green light to keep running and steal home, 4-0 Venezuela.

Another scoreless inning for the USA in the fifth again opened the door for Venezuela, and after loading the bases with two outs, Engelbert Herrera hit a single to left field to score two more runs and give Venezuela a 6-0 lead.

Then the USA’s bats came alive. Braden Ducharme struck out to start the inning, but the catcher dropped the ball and he beat the throw to stay on base. Then Jeffrey Lewis hit a two run homer. Erick Ochoa reached base on a double, and Blaine Milheim hit another two run homer to give the USA some life.

From there though, Venezuelan pitcher Maiker Pimentel went on a tear. He put three balls in play to earn outs, and in the top of the seventh he faced three batters, striking out two and finishing the game on a fly out. On the night, he went all seven innings and struckout 14, only allowing four runs on three hits.

With the 6-4 win, Venezuela advanced to the gold medal game on Sunday, while the USA will play for bronze.

In the final game of the night, New Zealand took on Japan for the final spot in the gold medal game. The offence started early, but only New Zealand would keep it going on their way to an 8-3 win.

New Zealand opened the game with four runs in the top of the first with Cole Evans and Seth Blair each hitting two run home runs. In the bottom of the inning, Japan fired right back with a lead off home run from Tei Hammamoto and run scoring double from Kazuya Toriyama, making it 4-2 New Zealand after the first.

After that, New Zealand kept putting runners in play and using their outs to advance them. In the second with two men on, Jerome Raemaki hit a sacrifice fly that scored Te Wera Bishop from third to make it 5-2.

The third inning was kept scoreless, and New Zealand would score again in the top of the fourth off a lead off home run from Benjamin Enoka. Japan got it right back in the bottom of the fourth when Taiyo Kataoka hit a run scoring triple to centre field, making it 6-3 New Zealand.

Another scoreless inning in the fifth lead to New Zealand scoring another run in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Reilly Makea hit a fly ball to right field that was caught, but Benjamin Enoka would still score from third. Seth Gibson added a solo home run in the seventh, and New Zealand’s defence didn’t give up anything the rest of the way to earn the 8-3 win.

As a result, the USA will play Japan in the bronze medal game at 11:00 a.m. in Prince Albert, and New Zealand and Venezuela will play for gold at 2:00 p.m.