Press Release World Baseball Softball Confederation
SASKATOON, Canada — Canada captured the 14th WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship, defeating defending world champions New Zealand, 10-5, in the gold medal finale at Bob Van Impe Stadium.
The world championship, won by the host country, generated Canada’s first since 1992 among record-attendance for the venue in both single games (7,800 for Canada vs Australia) and the tournament (53,890). The ten-day tournament featured 56 round robin games, 7 placement games, and 10 playoff games using the double page playoff system.
The New Zealand “Black Sox” will take home the silver after having won six world titles, including the previous one in 2013 in front of their own hometown fans in Auckland, New Zealand.
Venezuela claimed the bronze medal.
The Canadian Men’s National Team’s bats proved to be the difference at this year’s event, as the team led the tournament with 48 runs scored in six games in the preliminary round and another 33 in four playoff games, and also hit for an incredible team batting average of .428 in the preliminary round.
“Congratulations to the Canadian National Team on winning the world title and congratulations to the city of Saskatoon for delivering a very successful world championship,” said WBSC Softball President Dale McMann. “This special event not only highlights the depth of WBSC’s men’s softball programme, but also shows the growing global attraction and competitiveness of our sport, especially with new countries like Guatemala competing on the world stage and vying for their first world championship.”
The final day took a somber tone with the passing of WBSC Vice President for Baseball and IOC Member, Reynaldo Gonzalez (CUB), and assistant coach for Argentina Men’s National Team, Mike Stapleton (AUS) — both of whom passed away Saturday. A moment of silence was observed at Bob Van Impe Stadium in their honour.
The Men’s Softball World Championship is celebrated every two years, and the next edition will be hosted by Whitehorse, YK, Canada in July 2017.
Also being held over the weekend, the USA women’s national team defeated Japan in the WBSC-sanctioned World Cup of Softball X Invitational in Irvine, CA, USA. This was the seventh time that Team USA has played Japan in the Championship, with the USA improving to 5-2 in those games. This win marked the eighth time that the USA has won.
The WBSC has a full list of official events on the calendar that span from June to November which include the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, the U-19 Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in Oklahoma City, USA, the U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Chinese Taipei, the U-18 Men’s Baseball World Cup at Koshien Stadium in Japan, and the inaugural Premier 12 co-hosted by Japan and Chinese Taipei.
Final Standings:
Gold: Canada
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: Venezuela
4th: Australia
5th: Dominican Republic
6th: Japan
7th: Great Britain
8th: Argentina
9th: USA
10th: Mexico
11th: Great Britain
12th: Guatemala
13th: Denmark
14th: Philippines
15th: Netherlands