It was just the start Team Canada was looking for at the WBSC Men’s World Cup Group B qualifier as they defeated Hong Kong China 7-1 on Wednesday night.
“It’s nice to get the first one under our belt and get going.” Canada head coach John Stuart said in a post game interview. “The guys have been chomping at the bit. We had some real good at bats and some patience at the plate, which is good to see. We did the little things, a couple of bunts, a couple of sacrifices and very good base running. (I’m) real happy with the performance.”
Captain Justin Schofield got the nod for Canada and the Grand Pre, Nova Scotia product made the most of it, allowing just one hit over five innings of work.
“He wanted the ball.” Stuart said. “That’s what a true great pitcher wants is the ball. We wanted to get this one out of the way and he’s a true leader and it doesn’t matter if he’s named the captain or not, that’s just the way he is. He’s a leader on and off the field and he just wanted to go there and dominate which he did.”
Canada scored the first run in the bottom half of the third inning as Matieu Roy scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Abrey.
The Canadians would plate a trio of runs in the fourth inning as Jeff Lyons would score on error. Nick White would drive home Dallas Kipfer with an infield single before Abrey would pick up his second and third RBI of the night with a two run single to left.
In the fifth, Canada would plate a pair thanks to a Jeff Lyons single and a Jordan Pomeroy sacrifice fly.
Trevor Cheung would get Hong Kong China on the scoreboard with a single to left in the top half of the sixth inning, driving home Corey Ng.
Steven Normand came out of the bullpen for Canada in relief of Schofield, allowing one earned run on three hits, walking one and punching out four.
Other Scores
In other contests on Wednesday, Argentina would start their tournament with a 8-0 win over Israel and New Zealand defeated Singapore by a 2-0 margin.
On Thursday, New Zealand would defeat Israel 10-0 in the first game of the day. The 1:00 p.m. contest saw Hong Kong China defeat Israel 3-2 in a closely contested affair.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
