Tokyo, Japan - Canada used solid pitching and the long ball to defeat China 17-3 in a qualification game at the 2010 World University Baseball Championships in Japan. After losing to Korea in the quarter-finals and having their medal hopes dashed, Team Canada came out strong and scored early and often against the Chinese team. Eric Brown (Thunder Bay, ON) picked up the win and Canada went deep 4 times on the afternoon.
Canada opened the scoring when 2B Chad Marshall (Paris, ON) led off the game with a homerun to right field. That set the tone for Canada on this afternoon. 1B Garrett Regan (Calgary, AB) followed up Marshall with a 2 run homerun of his own in the second inning and RF Ryan Fleming (Whitby, ON) hit a mammoth 2 run homerun to right field in the third inning to give Canada a 5-0 lead. China fought back to score 2 runs in the bottom of the third inning, but Canada responded in the top of the fourth as CF Blake Carruthers (Calgary, AB) hit a 2 run double that scored Regan and SS Carter Bell (Coutenay, BC) to stretch the lead to 7-2. China's pitching ran into some control issues in the sixth inning and Canada took full advantage and blew the game wide open with a 6 run inning. The inning was capped off by a 3 run double by Regan to give him 5 RBIs on the afternoon. Canada finished off China with 4 more runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by a 3 run homerun off the bat of DH Nic Lendvoy (Langley, BC). When the dust settled, Canada outhit China 11-4 on the afternoon. Regan led the offense with a homerun and 2 doubles to go 3 for 4 with 5 RBI. Marshall was 2 for 2 and 3B Mark Ellis (Maple Ridge, BC) was 2 for 2 with a double and 3 walks and 3 runs scored. Other Canadians recording hits were: Carruthers, Fleming, C Dan Welch (Victoria, BC) and Lendvoy.
On the mound, Brown worked a very solid 6 innings to record the victory. He threw a lot of first pitch strikes and overpowered the Chinese hitters. He gave up 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings on 3 hits with 1 walk and recorded 4 strikeouts. Kyle Kotchie (Pickering , ON) came in to mop up and threw a scoreless seventh inning before the game was called due to the run differential after seven innings.
"We did what we were supposed to do today." commented Head Coach Todd Plaxton (Saskatoon, SK). "We were disappointed with our effort versus the USA and Korea and needed to bounce back today to ensure that we were playing for fifth place, and we played well today. Our pitchers worked ahead in the counts and gave us a chance to compete and win the game. Our hitters responded with an offensive power surge that we needed."
NOTES: Canada now awaits the winner of Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka in the fifth place game....Cuba defeated Sri Lanka 13-0 in one quarter final and Japan defeated Chinese Taipei 13-0 in the other quarter final played on Wednesday...The Cuban pitcher threw a perfect game in the win against Sri Lanka...The semi-final match-ups set for Thursday include Cuba vs. Korea and Japan vs. Team USA...In 2008, Canada finished 5th with a record of 3-4 and did not hit a homerun all tournament...So far, through 5 games, Canada has hit 6 homeruns in the 2010 tournament...Sheldon McDonald (Spruce Grove, AB) will get the start for Team Canada in the fifth place game.
