The Canadian Men’s National Softball Team won the silver medal after dropping a 4-1 decision to Argentina in the gold medal game April 30.

For the two countries this was a continuation of a strong rivalry. At the 2019 World Cup, Canada went undefeated at 7-0 in the round robin, won its quarter-final matchup but lost to Argentina in the semi-final. The red and white defeated New Zealand 2-1 to win the bronze medal, while Argentina went on to beat Japan 3-2 to claim their first Men’s World Cup gold medal.

Parana, Argentina hosted  the 2022 WBSC Americas XI Men’s Softball Pan American Championship. Canada had carried an undefeated record into the championship game.

With their strong showing Canada has qualified for the 2022 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup that will take place from November 26 to December 4 in New Zealand. They will be joined by Argentina, Cuba and the United States from the WBSC Americas region.

Cuba defeated the United States 11-6 to claim the bronze medal at the event. Venezuela finished fifth and Guatemala sixth.

Canada opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over Colombia in eight innings.

The game was scoreless through seven innings before Canada’s bats broke through with a pair of two-run homeruns and an RBI triple in the eighth.

In the bottom half of the eighth, Colombia managed a double on a soft liner to score the runner from second. Saskatoon’s Devon McCullough  closed out the game with three strikeouts.

Game two saw Canada defeat the host Argentina team 3-1.  The game had been scoreless through six innings before Canada rallied for three runs with Saskatoon’s Patrick Burns accounting for the first tally in his role as a pinch runner.

Next up was Puerto Rico. Saskatoon’s McCullough started the game and held the opponent to one run on two hits and had eight strikeouts over three innings. Fellow Saskatoon pitcher Zach Pierce  came in relief and stuck out five of the six batters he faced.  Warman’s Justin Laskowki started his first game and made his presence felt going 3 for 3 at the plate, scoring twice and batting in Saskatoon’s Patrick Burns  after Burns had reached third base on a left field triple.

Canada came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the United States 4-2 in their last preliminary round game.

McCullough relieved  starting pitcher, Sean Cleary, with two outs in the fifth and tossed two innings and a third allowing only one hit and striking out five.

Home runs by Derek Mayson (North Vancouver, B.C.) in the fifth inning and and Jason Hill (St. John’s, Newfoundland) in the sixth inning led the comeback. Hill’s two run shot proven to be the winner.

In Super Round play McCullough was brilliant as Canada defeated Guatemala 1-0. The Saskatoon pitcher struck out 18 batters allowing only two hits and one walk for the complete game shutout.

They then topped Venezuela 8-1. The team put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth. Justin Laskowski  and Mathieu Roy (St. Gervais, Quebec) started the inning with back-to-back singles followed by an intentional walk to Bradley Ezekiel (Harbour Main, Newfoundland) and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Patrick Burns (Saskatoon) for the run-rule win.

In playoff round Canada punched their ticket to the gold medal game with a 9-1 victory. Saskatoon’s  Zach Pierce earned the win striking out 10 batters and walking one allowing only one hit and one run. Canada blew the game wide open with a seven run fourth innings on a three run homer by Bradley Ezekiel and a four run homer by Justin Laskowki.

In the championship game Canada took the early lead on another Ezekiel home run in the bottom of the first inning, But three consecutive home runs by Argentina in the top of the fourth inning was   the difference as the home team came away with the 4-1 win.