Canada beats Venezuela twice, wins bronze

Canada won bronze at the U18 Men's World Baseball Softball Confederation PanAm Championship in Bahia Blanca, Argentina after beating Venezuela twice on Friday.

With bad weather looming, organizers decided that Friday would not only see the remaining three games in pool play but also added the 5th place game and gold and bronze matches that were originally scheduled for Saturday. 

Canada took their three wins and one loss record into their final opening round game versus Venezuela, needing to win to have a chance at gold. Despite getting down 4-1 after two innings, they rallied for a 8-5 win. Colton Lecuyer was 2 for 4 with a solo home run. Bryce Rebertz was 1 for 4. Nova Scotia's Will Singer earned the win in the circle and hit a home run.

After Mexico defeated Argentina in the final pool play game, there were three teams with a record of four wins and one loss. Unfortunately for Canada, the WBSC tiebreaking formula put them in third place, setting up a bronze medal game against fourth place Venezuela. 

Committing a few untimely errors put Canada down 6-0 after three innings, but once again the Red and White (in their black uniforms) came back and won, this time 7-6 over the Venezuelans. A bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh won the match. Singer started pitching, and Mark Tomatuk of Eastmain, QC earned the win in relief. Singer had a homer and drove in five of Canada's runs. Lecuyer was 1 for 3, with a crucial walk in the bottom of the seventh.

Argentina won gold with a 6-0 victory over the Mexicans.  The top four teams have qualified for the U18 WBSC World Cup in 2027 in Czechia.

Local ball players winning bronze medals are Lecuyer of Fitzroy Harbour, Rebertz of Arnprior and Cade Kuehl of Shawville.