The Aussie Colts, Australia’s Under 19 Men’s Softball Team, have won their third straight Junior Men’s World Softball Championship with an outstanding performance that saw them remain undefeated throughout the championship, which was played in Summerside on Prince Edward Island in Canada, from 24 June to 3 July. The Aussie Colts won a hard fought gold medal match 7-2 against Japan.
The Aussie Colts were the favourites for the championship after victories in this event in 1997 in Canada and in 2001 in Sydney. The Colts made a great start to the championship, winning all eight of their preliminary matches to finish on top of the ladder and advance to the semi finals. They proved too strong for Japan in the semi final, winning 6-1 to book a place in the gold medal match.
Japan won through to the gold medal match with victory over Canada in the preliminary final. The gold medal match was a closely fought contest, with the Aussie Colts scoring the first two runs before Japan struck back with the next two. With the match evenly poised in the sixth innings at 2-2, Colts player Garon Clough was brought into the game to bat with runners on first and second base. He responded to the challenge in fine style, smashing a home run to score three runs for the Colts and break the spirit of the Japanese players. The Colts went on to win the final 7-2.
Every Colts player performed well at the championship, both in offense and defense. The standout in the team was pitcher Adam Folkard, who pitched 109 strikeouts in the nine matches he pitched in. The Colts were a very strong batting team, hitting a total of 11 home runs whilst keeping the opposition to just 11 runs in the 10 matches they played.
The Aussie Colts team was as follows:
Players: James Brooks, Garon Clough, Ashton Edwards, Adam Folkard, Nic Green, Jon Hudson, Josh Jones, Shaun Mason, Michael Munro, Damien Nairn, Nick Norton, Adam Raptis, Andrew Ratten, Jamie Sheehan, Travis Southam, Matt Torpey, Ryan Van Coevorden.
Officials: Lindsey Carroll (Head Coach), Laing Harrow (Assistant Coach), Darrin Hebditch (Assistant Coach), John Neilson (Trainee Coach), Maxine Cleary (Team Administrator/Statistician), Mary Magarey (Team Physiotherapist), Leigh Evans (Umpire).
For more information go to www.softball.org.au or contact Softball Australia on (03) 9890 8200.
Ends
Shane Cantelmi
Athletes and Events Administrator
Softball Australia
Suite 4, 38-40 Prospect St
Box Hill VIC 3128
Phone: +61 3 9890 8200
Fax: +61 3 9890 8295
Email: shane.cantelmi@softball.org.au
For all Softball Australia news and information go to:
www.softball.org.au