Canada eliminates Czech Republic from World Series title contention
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A closer look at the 3-0 win Canada had over Europe-Africa Saturday afternoon at Volunteer Stadium.
PLAY OF THE GAME — Treyton Mandziuk with a diving catch: With a runner in scoring position with no outs, David Sobotka hits a fly ball to shallow right center field. Without hesitation, Mandziuk runs full speed to the ball and notices the ball is shallow. He makes an incredible dive forwards and makes the out. The player in scoring position advanced to 3rd base but never reached home that inning.
CANADA PLAYER OF THE GAME – Jaxon Weir: Weir went 3 for 3 at the plate with three singles, the first time to second base, the second time to right field and the third time right up the middle. He was also the first person to place Canada on the board. By stealing second base then reaching home due to a hit from Treyton Mandzuik.
EUROPE-AFRICA PLAYER OF THE GAME – Dominik Reznícek with a diving catch at short stop. With two runs on the board in the fourth inning for Canada, Europe-Africa was desperate to end the inning. With nobody on, Kanyn Junior hit a line drive up the middle. Řezníček who was playing close to second saw this and made a phenomenal diving catch to give Europe-Africa their second out of the inning.
BIG INNING – At the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was scoreless. Both teams were struggling to get on the board until Treyten Mandzuik hit a double to deep center field which allowed Jaxon Weir to come home and put Braeden McQueen on third. With the first sight of a pass ball, McQueen sprinted home and gave Canada their second run. With Mandziuk at second due to his double, he also stole third on this pass ball and was ready to score another run. Brayden Nernberg then came up to bat and hit a single to right field which allowed Mandziuk to come home and give Canada a 3-0 lead.
BEST EFFORT – Europe-Africa tried hard to come back and beat Canada. Filip Zahourek hit a single up the middle and was ready to make an attempt at scoring. He quickly stole 2nd at the first chance and was ready to score. Unfortunately Zahourek was unable to score along with Dominik Reznícek, who hit a double to deep center field in the second inning. Thanks to David Sobotka, he was able to reach third by tagging up at second that Sobotka hit to center.
FLASHING LEATHER – Weir absolutely dominated on the mound today. With a full six-inning game pitched, he allowed no runs to score and only allowed three hits to occur. He also struck out a total of 13 batters and walked none.
WHAT THE ADULTS SAY – "It was kinda a repeat of what we saw at the nationals tournament. The story of going 0-3 and finding a way to win that. I think that going into today it really helped the guys being in a situation like that before. You know to be comfortable in a spot," Canada manager Cole Warken said.
In the nationals tournament, they went 0-3 then came back and won five straight games to win the whole tournament. Being in the losers bracket now, they hope to have the same outcome.
WHAT THE KIDS SAY – “We had to keep grinding, keep playing the ball we play because if we play ball the way we can, it can be a good start for us," Jaxon Weir said. “When I went up to the mound, I just felt like it was simple. I already had one game down. At the plate, I felt less intimidated and more like I was playing on my home field."
WHAT IT MEANS – Canada will move forward and play Mexico on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Volunteer Stadium. The loss eliminates Czech Republic from contention at the Little League World Series.