By: Pat Healey

Ryan Van Coevorden delighted the close to 200 fans in attendance, leading Australia to a 6-3 win over Mexico as the ISF VII Junior Men's World Championship (19-and-under) opened under bright sunny skies at Queen Elizabeth Park's VIV Field in Summerside, Prince Edward Island (Canada).

The game started off with both teams equal, before the Lindsey Carroll-coached Australians shot out to a 5-0 lead by the third inning and appeared to be on their way to a dominating win. However, Mexico had other ideas as they cut into that lead with a pair of home runs.

Van Coevorden sent two shots to left field into the net protecting the long ball from going onto nearby Granville Street and into the yards of nearby homes.

The win allows the Aussies to begin defense of their championship on the right foot.

Also tops at the plate was Matt Torpey (2-for-2, run scored), Jamie Sheehan (1-for-2, run scored, home run, RBI), and Travis Southam (1-for-2, run scored).

For Mexico, Ruben Delgadillo (2-for-3, double), Gustavo Benitez (1-for-3, home run), Wilfredo Castanos (1-for-3, home run), and Paul Alvarez (1-for-3, RBI) led the way.

Aussie James Brooks went six and a third innings, scattering three runs on six hits, walking one and fanning seven for the win. Adam Folkard pitched to three batters, striking out two in relief.

Losing pitcher Sergio de la Rosa went two and a third innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Carlos Lopez pitched three plus innings allowing one run on two hits, walking two and sitting down three.

In Game Two, three Team Japan pitchers combined for a no-hit shutout of youthful Denmark. Hayami Takahashi pitched two innings to earn the 15-0 win, while striking out four Dane batters. Daisuke Kitaoka and Hisatsugu Hamaguchi each pitched an inning, striking out two batters each in relief for the win, via the run-ahead rule. (In international play, if a team is ahead by 20 runs after three innings, 15 after four, or seven after five, the game is considered complete.)

The speedy Japanese had two inside-the-park home runs off the bat of Masayuki Shimoto (3-for-3, home run, three RBI, double, three runs scored), Takuto Tsutsui (1-for-3, two runs scored), Masaki Sawada (2-for-2, run scored, two RBI), and Norihiko Aoyama (2-for-3, two runs scored).

Losing pitcher Frederik Terkelsen went the full game for the Jens Terkelsen and Steve MacFarlane-coached Denmark squad, allowing 15 runs on 16 hits, walking three and striking out three.

New Zealand started their 2005 Jr. Men’s World Championship campaign strongly, with a 7-1 victory over Argentina.

Any opening day nerves were put to the side as the Kiwis put in a strong performance with the bat. Argentina was the first to get runs on the board, scoring in the top of the first inning, but the Kiwis replied with interest.

The Junior Black Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, with David Butler, Bernard Hale, and Penese Iosefo all crossing home plate. The Kiwis went further ahead in the second inning with two more runs from Michael Crowley and Daniel Lamb-Hunt.

Holding a four run advantage the Junior Black Sox were relentless as the bats kept firing. Hale sparked the game in the fourth inning with a big home run over the center field fence, and then Mario Herbert scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.

While the runs were coming in for the Junior Black Sox, Iosefo was also doing the job in the pitching circle. He went the distance, facing 23 batters, recording nine strikeouts while giving up two walks and three hits.

Following the game team management described the victory as a solid start and a good step along the way to their goal of winning the tournament.

A three-run seventh inning rallied Team USA over a valiant Czech Republic squad, 6-5.

The Czechs led 5-1 at one point before USA mounted their rally with timely hitting and several miscues by the defense, which led to Jason Loe's game-winning run.

Other top batters for Team USA were Kevin Castillo (2-for-4, RBI), Curtis Leavitt (1-for-2, run scored, home run), and Bobby Olson (2-for-2 run scored).

For the Czech Republic, Michal Hudec (1-for-2, run scored, three RBI) and Bohumir Adamec (1-for-3, two runs scored, two RBI) were tops.

Winning pitcher John Kelly went the distance, allowing five runs on five hits and fanning five. Losing pitcher Jaroslav Muller went five plus innings, allowing four runs on four hits, while Stepan Eret allowed two runs on one hit in a brief appearance.

Heavy rains during the fourth inning of Canada's opening game led to the postponement of their matchup with Mexico until 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Team Canada was leading 2-0 when the umpires called the game due to thunder and lightning and the rains.

(Softball New Zealand contributed to this report.)

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