Burnaby pitcher Matteo Vincelli was named to Canada’s 20-player Junior National Team roster that will represent Canada at the World Baseball Softball Confederation under-18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan from Friday, Aug. 28 to Sept. 6.
The roster was announced following the team’s selection camp in Australia that saw Canada play seven games against the u-18 Aussie side in a seven-game series played at Surfers Paradise on Australia’s Gold Coast from Aug. 17 to 23. The team left for Japan on Tuesday.
Canada eked out its one and only win - a 1-0 victory over the Aussies - in the final series matchup on Monday.
Tristan Pompey of Mississauga, Ont. led off the bottom of the second inning with a double down the left field line and scored from second when the Australian shortstop threw wildly to first base on a groundball off the bat of Ontario’s Luke Van Rycheghem.
Canadian starter Michael Brettell of Ontario pitched six shutout innings, scattering three hits and a walk, while striking out eight batters. He worked his way out of trouble in the opening inning, getting a fly-out to right to leave the bases loaded. Brettell got the following batter to strike out and then forced the next batter to pop out to leave two runners on base in the fifth.
Vincelli came on in relief, allowing a leadoff double in the seventh. He battled back with a groundout and pair of fly-outs to end the inning, leaving the single runner stranded.
In the eighth, Vincelli earned the save, working his way out of a jam with some tremendous defensive help to keep the Aussies off the scoreboard. An error, single and walk loaded the bases before a strikeout by Vincelli and a double-play throw to first while in the air from shortstop Kobe Hyland of Alberta ended the inning.
The Burnaby righthander also figured in two earlier losses Down Under in the pre-World Cup series in Australia.
Vincelli pitched three innings, striking out one, while allowing one run on one hit in a 4-3 loss on Aug. 20. He also struck out two batters in a single inning’s work in a 7-2 loss to Australia in the series opener on Aug. 17.
In Osaka, Canada will be joined by Cuba, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Italy and South Africa in Group B, while Group A will feature the two-time defending champion United States, along with host Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and the Czech Republic.
Each group will play a round robin with the top three records in each pool playing each other in crossover games in what is being called the “super round”.
Following the super round, the teams with the top two records will meet for gold, while the third- and fourth-best records will play to decide the bronze medal.
Canada will open the tournament on Friday, Aug. 28 against Chinese Taipei.
Canada qualified for the World Cup after winning a bronze medal at the 18-and-under Pan American Championship last September in La Paz, Mexico.
Historically, Canada has won four medals at the u-18 World Cup, including gold in Brandon in 1991 and a silver at the 2012 championships in Seoul, Korea. The junior nats also won a pair of bronze in 1997 in Moncton and in 2006 in Cuba.
Canada is coming off a seventh-place finish at the most recent u-18 Baseball World Cup that was held in Taiwan in 2013.
The national team roster features two players - Josh Naylor and Demi Orimoloye - who took part in the 2014 Pan Ams in Mexico.
Naylor and Orimoloye are holdovers from the 2013 junior national team that finished seventh at the World Cup in Taiwan. Naylor also participated at the World Cup in Seoul in 2012, where he helped Canada to a silver medal. He is set to become the first Canadian ever to participate in three baseball world championships at the u-18 level.
Naylor was selected in the first and Orimoloye in the fourth at the Major League Baseball first-year player draft in June and are currently on loan to Team Canada from the Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively.
