ISF IV JUNIOR MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

LOCATION: Auckland, New Zealand
DATES: February 12-21, 1993
PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES (7): Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, USA

SEMI-FINALS
Japan 4, Australia 1
New Zealand 4, Canada 1

FINAL
Canada 3, Japan 2

GRAND FINAL
Canada 4, New Zealand 3

CANADA DOWNS NEW ZEALAND TO WIN IV JUNIOR MEN'S WORLD

Winning the round robin portion of a tournament is no guarantee of winning the gold medal. It's happened each time the International Softball Federation's (ISF) Junior Men's Fast Pitch World Championship has been held.

The IV Junior Men's Fast Pitch World Championship was held February 12-21 with a field of seven teams as defending champion New Zealand lost only once in 12 games in the round robin.

That defeat, however, was to eventual gold medallist Canada, 4-2, which compiled a 9-3 record in the round robin.

Besides Canada and New Zealand, Japan and Australia also qualified for the Page System Playoffs. Japan won eight of 12 games and Australia seven of 12 in the round robin.

In the Page System Playoffs, Japan ousted Australia 4-1 and New Zealand defeated Canada 4-1, advancing to the Grand Final. Japan took home the bronze, losing 3-2 to Canada.

In the Grand Final, Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the third before New Zealand scored all of its runs in the top of the seventh to take a one-run lead.

But the Canadians tied it up at 3-all with a run in the bottom of the seventh and won the gold with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Shane Newson's two-out single, scoring Kris Gillis, who had walked.

Canadian outfielder Rob Giesbrecht, who will play professional baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization, led all hitters in the round robin with a .600 batting average (18-for-30) and also in home runs with four.

(This article appeared in the May 1993 edition of World Softball magazine, Volume 23, Number 2.)

GOLD MEDAL: Canada
SILVER MEDAL: New Zealand
BRONZE MEDAL: Japan