By: Pat Healey

SUMMERSIDE – Tuesday turned out to be a day of decision-making at the ISF VII Jr. Men’s World Championship (19-and-under) at Queen Elizabeth Park's VIV Field on Prince Edward Island (Canada).

The game between Australia and Japan, many thought, was a sign of the two teams that will be in Sunday's championship gold medal game, while the Battle of North America between Canada and the U.S. could, in the end, be a make-or-break game for either team in their quest to make the top four and into the semi-finals.

Australia remained undefeated with a nail-biting 5-0 win over Japan, while Bobby Sill capped off a six-run sixth inning with a three-run blast as Canada rallied for a 6-2 win over the USA.

In other action at the nine-team, 10-day championship, New Zealand got by Mexico, 6-4, to improve their record to 5-0 at the championship, and the Czech Republic used a seven-run sixth in an 11-2 beating of Denmark.

For five innings, United States pitcher John Kelly had Team Canada in check and held a 2-0 lead. Then came the sixth.

Team Canada woke up, scoring six runs thanks to an adrenaline rush from the 2,700 fans cheering them on for a much needed 6-2 win.

Kelly walked Mathieu Roy, then Justin Gill (2-3, run scored) singled before Bryan Abrey (1-for-2, RBI, run scored), brought Roy home. Kelly struck out slugger Jonathan Kane before Ben Tee (1-for-3, run scored) hit a two-run double that scored Gill and Abrey.

Nate Bauman then flew out and Kelly then intentionally walked Brad Fogal (1-for-2).

Bobby Sill (1-for-2), then came to the plate and made Kelly pay, with a one strike, three-run blast that went over two tents beyond the left field scoreboard to secure the win.

Tyson Barkman picked up the win, coming on in relief of starter Jonathan Kane. Barkman went three and two third innings, allowing one run on one hit and fanning seven. Kane pitched three and one third innings, allowing a run on three hits, walking one, and striking out five.

Kelly walked three and struck out six in the loss.

Australia used three long balls and another solid outing from Adam Folkard to hand Japan their first loss of the world championship, 5-1, before 2,000 fans. The win allows Australia to keep pace with their counterparts from New Zealand and sets the stage for an interesting matchup between the two friendly off the field countries Wednesday.

Ryan Van Coevorden (1-for-2) got things started when he drove home pinch runner Andrew Ratten from second base with the first run of the game in the fourth inning. They would add three more in the fifth off Japan starter Hayami Takahashi. Toshiyuki Sakamoto came on in relief, allowing one run on one hit in two and one third innings pitched while striking out two.

Other top batters for the Aussies were Matt Torpey (1-for-3, home run), Travis Southam (1-for-3, double), Shaun Mason (2-for-2, run scored, RBI, home run), Jon Hudson (1-for-2, two-run home run, run scored), and Jamie Sheehan (1-for-2, run scored).

For Japan, Daisuke Kitaoka (1-for-2), Shinji Kawamura (1-for-2), and Masayuki Shimoto (1-for-3, RBI) was all the offense.

Folkard struck out 16 hitters in seven innings of work, allowing just three hits and one run in the win.

Bernard Hale (2-for-3, double, two-run home run) led the Kiwis as they used a three-run first inning to power over the Mexicans, 6-4, before 450 fans during the first game of day five.

Other top batters for New Zealand were David Butler (2-for-3, run scored, stolen base), Mario Herbert (1-for-3, stolen base, run scored), Penese Iosefo (1-for-2, home run, run scored), and Tyson Byrne (1-for-3).

For Mexico, Gustavo Benitez (2-for-4, home run, two RBI, run scored), Johel Pedroza (2-for-2, RBI), Wilfredo Castanos (1-for-2, run scored, double), Jesus Diaz (1-for-1, stolen base), and Ruben Delgaldillo (1-for-4, run scored) led the way.

Iosefo went the distance, allowing four runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out six to earn the victory.

Losing pitcher Sergio de la Rosa went four and two third innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking two, and striking out one. Carlos Lopez went one and one third innings allowing one run and walking one in relief.

In what was a very close game, Denmark trailed 2-1, 3-1, and 4-1, before the Czech offense exploded for a huge seventh inning, led by Tomas Benda (3-for-4, triple, home run, three runs scored, four RBI), Jan Pospisil (1-for-3, run scored), Jiri Nezbeda (1-for-2, run scored), Bohumir Adamec (1-for-2, run scored, double, RBI), and David Kramar (1-for-4, double, run scored).

For the young Danes, Nicolai Bloksted (1-for-1), Valdemar Terkelsen (1-for-2, run scored, double), Frederik Terkelsen (1-for-3, double), and Jeppe Bjerre (1-for-2, stolen base) did the damage.

Ondrej Malecek pitched the complete game four-hitter, allowing two runs, walking four, and striking out ten Denmark batters. On the other side, Terkelsen went the distance, allowing 11 runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four in picking up the loss.

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