TORONTO 2015 Softball Pan American Softball Confederation Daily Newsletter July 17, 2015
Canada still on top
Toronto, July 16, 2015. The round robin stage of the competition at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Men’s Softball ended tonight, and playoff matchups were defined. Canada took the first place, unbeaten, and today will face Argentina, the second place of the round robin. Both teams already have secured a medal at these Games. For its part, Venezuela (third) and United States (fourth) will try to climb to the top of the podium for the longest path of the bracket. Mexico and the Dominican Republic didn’t make the playoffs.
USA 2-1 Mexico In the last match of the day United States beat Mexico 2-1 and thus qualified for the playoffs in this competition. Moreover, this result also
defined the positions of Argentina and Venezuela, who had to wait until the last out the round robin to know its final position. Mexico and the United States played for a spot in the playoffs. The winner would continue in the tournament, while the loser would be eliminated. And it was the US team that made the most of their chances, winning the game by the minimum difference. For four innings, both Gerald Muizelaar as Jose Naranjo shut out their rivals, keeping the game under strict control. However, in the fifth inning the three runs of the game were scored. Leading off the fifth inning Pat
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Sagdal broke the tie. Nick Mullins walked with no outs, and it seemed that the US ninth bat will sacrifice to advance the runners. However, Sagdal squared for bunt, and when the defense closed, the center fielder pulled back the bat and hit a two-run homer to center field. These would be the only two runs of the game for his team. And in the bottom of the fifth came the Mexican run. Jorge Rios was hit by pitch, and was replaced on the basepaths by Ricardo Gil, who advanced to second base with a wild pitch. Two batters later, he advanced to third on a rolling to second, and then stepped on the plate with an RBI ringle by Erick Ochoa, to cut the lead to the minimal difference. With two outs Ruben Delgadillo singled to right, leaving runners at the corners. That was it for Muizelaar, who was relieved by Tony Mancha, and the reliever did his job. He forced Edgar Lopez to hit a fly ball to shortstop to end the inning and keep the lead for the US team. Mexico threatened in the bottom of the sixth, Gustavo Prishker singled with no outs, and Marco Gonzalez sacrificed to put Julio Rodriguez (pinch runner) in second base. However, Mancha struck out Salgado and Rios to escape the jam. This result marked the elimination of Mexico, and the ticket to the playoffs for USA.
Canada 4-1 Venezuela Canada clinched yesterday the first place in the round robin with a 4-1 victory over Venezuela. The home team took the round robin undefeated and assured a medal in these Games. On the side of Venezuela, with this defeat they dropped to third place in the standings, and must take the long path to get the gold. In this game both teams played for the first place in the round robin. And it was the Canadian team which took the game, based on a solid job of the pitching and the offense. Canada came out fast in the first inning, connecting three hits, including an RBI double by Stephen Mullaley. In the third inning, Canada added one more run, with an RBI triple by Jeff Ellsworth. The right fielder found Mathieu Roy at first base, and hit hard to the right field line, allowing him to reach third base. In the fifth inning Mullaley drove in the third run for Canada, with a triple to center field with two outs. The ball flew through the Ajax sky and looked like it was leaving the park, but hit at the top of the fence and returned to the ground,
What you need to know Standings G
W
L
RF RA
Canadá
5
5
0
33
13
Argentina
5
3
2
19
15
Venezuela
5
3
2
14
10
USA
5
2
3
16
10
México
5
2
3
16
22
Dominicana
5
0
5
5
33
Yesterday’s
scores
Argentina 7 - 0 Dominicana WP: Sebastián Gervasutti (1-1) LP: Yennier Volquez (0-4)
Venezuela 1 - 4 Canadá WP: Andy Skelton (2-0) LP: Ramon Jones (2-1)
USA 2 - 1 México WP: Gerald Muizelaar (1-0) LP: José Naranjo (0-1)
Games Schedules 16.30 hs. - VEN vs USA 19.00 hs. - CAN vs ARG
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At the top of the third inning, Argentina scored four runs. Pablo Montero walked and Ladislao Malarczuk singled with an infield hit, putting two runners on. Juan Zara sacrificed, and Montero scored shortly after with a pass ball. With two outs on the board, Motroni singled to drive in Malarczuk, and Gustavo Godoy homered to the left, leaving things 5-0. In the fifth inning Argentina added one more run with an RBI single by Gustavo Godoy, driving in Malarczuk. The young Argentine fielder had an infield hit to get in circulation. Argentina scored another one in the seventh, in the feet of Juan Zara, who served simply to decorate the result. From the circle, Sebastian Gervasutti and Juan Potolicchio threw a gem, allowing only one hit in the match. Gervasutti won the game with 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 K; while Potolicchio throwed two innings, with 4 strikeouts. The loser was Yennier Perez (3 IP, 5 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K). allowing the batter to reach third base. One batter later, Andy Skelton brought him to the plate with a single to right, putting the 4-0 on the scoreboard. In the top of the sixth inning, Venezuela scored their only run of the day. Luiger Pinto hit a long homer to center field, putting Venezuela in the board. For Canada, Skelton won the game (3 IP 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K), while Ramon Jones was the loser (3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 K).
Argentina Dominican Republic 7-0 Argentina’s national team qualified for the playoffs this afternoon of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, after defeating Dominican Republic 7-0. Argentina played a flawless game, with a great work of his pitchers who threw a one hit shutout. In the second inning Argentina scored the first run. Bruno Motroni singled and advanced to second on a long sacrifice fly to left by Gustavo Godoy. And with two outs, Manuel Godoy (who replaced Bruno at second on catcher rule) came in on a defensive error by JosÊ Bueno, on an easy rolling by Fernando Petric.
On offense, Gustavo Godoy hit 2 for 3, with a homer and three RBIs. Motroni also made a good effort, batting 3 for 4, two runs scored and an RBI.
Games for today 16:30. Venezuela vs USA Venezuela and the United States reach the playoffs ranked third and fourth respectively, so this afternoon will play a win or go home game, with the winner taking a medal. During the round robin Venezuela beat the United States 3-1. Ramon Jones pitched the complete game for Venezuela (5 H, 1 R, 12 K) while Josh Johnson was the loser of the duel. The right ended with a line of 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB and 4 K.
19:00 hs. Canada vs Argentina In the second match of the day, faces the top two teams in the round robin, both secured medal face. Undefeated world champion arrives, while Argentina lost to Canada and Mexico in the regular season. Just in the round robin, the home team beat the
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South Americans 9-3. The match winner was Sean Cleary, who pitched the entire game and allowed 5 hits and 3 runs, with 11 strikeouts and without giving free tickets. The loser of the duel was Sebastian Gervasutti (4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 K).
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