Brant Wiebe

The short-term forecast may be for snow, but some area athletes are spending this week in South America playing the sport they love. Delisle’s James Shirley and Brant Wiebe are joined by Saskatoon’s Jordan Hudson and Prince Albert’s Matthew Kutnikoff on the Team Canada roster for the 2023 U23 Men’s Softball World Cup in Parana, Argentina.

Also on the team are Thomas Baker (Kitchener, Ontario)

James Shirley

Tyler Branchaud (Metcalfe, Ontario), Connor Brooks (Napanee, Ontario), Dallas Kipfer (Kitchener, Ontario), Isaac Lefebvre (St. Leonard-d’Aston, Quebec), Riley Manion (Napanee, Ontario), Mason and Mitch McKay (Tavistock, Ontario), Jordan Pomeroy (Placentia, Newfoundland), Mark Stack (Petty Harbour, Newfoundland), Owen Torrie (Williamsford, Ontario), Reese Yantzi (Shakespeare, Ontario).

Jordan Hudson

Melfort’s Dean Holoien is an assistant coach with the team.

Team Canada was awarded a wild card spot in December to participate in the tournament and join the 11 other countries which qualified for the event through continental qualifiers held in 2022.

They had a tune-up in Vero Beach, Florida, in early April with a series of exhibition games against Team USA.

This was followed by three exhibition games against Israel, Australia, and Argetina when they arrived in South America.

Canada is playing in pool B with Venezuela, Team WBSC, Japan, New Zealand and Israel.

Pool A consists of Australia, Mexico, Czechia, South Africa, Argentina and Singapore.

Canada dropped game one 2-0 to Venezuela as pitcher Frank Ugas held the Canadians to two hits in the game.

The team rebounded in game two of the Softball World Cup with a dominant 11-1 win over Team WBSC in four innings.

Both teams were looking to bounce back after losses in game 1.

Canada’s bats were alive as they as they scored three in the second inning.

Brant Wiebe’s RBI single got Canada on the board, and he was able to come around and score on a hit by Isaac Lefebvre. Canada would score two more runs in the third and put the game away with a six-run fourth inning.

In Monday’s matchup, Japan used strong pitching and balanced hitting to come away with a 5-1 win. Three pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, while seven Japanese batters had a least one hit. Isaac Lefevbre scored Canada’s only run on a monster home run.

Canada is scheduled to finish pool play with games against New Zealand on Tuesday and Israel on Wednesday.

After day three Australia and Mexico sit atop Group A with 3-0 records.

Japan and New Zealand also have 3-0 records in Group B.

Visit softballcanada.ca for updated team information.