Having watched teammate Brady Hogg hit a pair of three-run home runs in back-to-back games, Canada’s Jordan Pomeroy was eager to showcase his hitting ability Monday night.
The Placentia, N.L. native hit a solo shot in the third inning and followed that up with a grand slam blast in fourth frame as he helped Canada improve to 3-0 at the 2018 WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship with a 7-0 win over Guatemala at Rotary Field.
“I just had to wait for my pitches, especially in the fourth inning as I had a nice battle there with a different pitcher than the one I had faced in the previous inning,” Pomeroy said.
“I had to make some adjustments as the at-bat went on and I had a few hard swings that I just missed on. I was able to connect on one finally and it helped us pull away.”
Pomeroy had a pair of hits and five runs batted in to pace Canada on offence, while Brendan Hagerman and Shellbrook’s Ryan Smith also drove home their teammates in the fourth inning.
Shellbrook’s Ryan Smith looks to steal a base on Monday night at Rotary Field.
“I was looking at how they were throwing at right-handed batters and there was a certain pitch I was looking for,” Smith said. “It just so happened that it came on the first pitch that I saw.
“Our guys never gave up out there. We had a bit of a slow start where the runs weren’t coming our way, but we kept hitting the ball and Jordan was able to do his thing.”
Colton Pavey pitched all five innings for Canada and struck out four batters while allowing three hits.
Carlos Morales Diaz had three strikeouts in three innings of work for Guatemala, who fell to 1-2 in Group B play and are locked in a battle for third place with the Czech Republic and the United States in the standings.
Canada sits in a tie in their pool with New Zealand, who also improved to 3-0 Monday with an 8-1 over the Czech Republic.
The two sides will square off for first place in Group B Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Rotary Field.
“It’s going to be exciting to play a team of their calibre under the lights,” Pomeroy said.
“They are always a rival to Canada and it should be a good game.”
The other Group B matchup on Monday saw the United States pick up their first win of the tournament with an 11-1 triumph over Hong Kong.
Japan’s Yoshiki Sugiyama reaches first base safely against Mexico Monday afternoon.
Group A’s marquee affair saw two unbeaten sides go head-to-head Monday afternoon at Kinsmen Field.
In what had been a tightly contested matchup, Japan broke things open with three runs in the fifth inning on their way to a 7-1 win over Mexico.
The defending gold medalists are tied for first place at 3-0 with Australia, who gave an 18-0 shellacking to Denmark earlier in the day.
India earned their first ever win at the tournament in a 5-4 thriller against South Africa, who would later drop a 6-1 decision to Argentina.
Group A Standings
- Australia – 3-0
- Japan – 3-0
- Mexico – 2-1
- Argentina – 1-2
- India – 1-2
- South Africa – 1-2
- Denmark – 0-4
Group B Standings
- Canada – 3-0
- New Zealand – 3-0
- Czech Republic – 1-2
- Guatemala – 1-2
- United States – 1-2
- Hong Kong – 0-2
Tuesday’s Schedule
- 12:30 p.m. – Denmark vs. Argentina – Kinsmen Field
- 3 p.m. – Czech Republic vs. Hong Kong – Rotary Field
- 5 p.m. – South Africa vs. Japan – Kinsmen Field
- 5:30 p.m. – Guatemala vs. United States – Rotary Field
- 7:30 p.m. – Mexico vs. Australia – Kinsmen Field
- 8 p.m. – Canada vs. New Zealand – Rotary Field
