P.A. gets a treat with national softball friendly; CAN sweeps VEN

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McCullough said it’s an honour to wear the red Canadian jersey and will be a special moment when he does so in his hometown starting on Friday.

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“Any chance you get to wear the maple leaf, it’s special, let alone wear it at home. Not a lot of people get a chance to do that,” said McCullough. “Right now, I’m taking the moment in and enjoying it.”

Although Canada managed just seven hits in the two games, their defensive game was on point. Not only did they get excellent pitching from their staff, but the defence behind them did not surrender a single error in 14 innings.

“Sometimes when you give up a hard-hit groundball and you go ‘ah, that’s a hit,’ but you always forget you have all these top players playing behind you,” said McCullough. “’Oh, that’s an easy out.’ It’s not like it is in league.”

Canada 3 Venezuela 0

The only inning where runs were scored was the second. After Brad Ezekiel had already crossed home plate, Andy Skelton hit a two-run home run to extend Canada’s lead to 3-0.

Canada’s pitching was superb as they only conceded two hits all game and their defence didn’t make any errors behind them. Sean Cleary pitched three perfect innings while striking out six. Devon McCullough and Jason Hill split up the final four innings, striking out four and two respectively.

Canada 3 Venezuela 2

Raphael Flores scored both runs for Venezuela, crossing the plate in the fourth and sixth inning to give them a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Brad Ezekiel fixed that issue for the Canadians, who cleared the ‘fence monster’ in left field. Jason Hill stepped up with the bases loaded and hit a single off the wall to score one more as the Canadians had a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh, which ended up being the final score.

Looking ahead

After Tuesday’s friendly, Team Canada will be real busy. They’ll play in the Saskatoon for the 14^th Men’s World Softball Championship from June 26 – July 5. A week after, they’ll head to the Toronto 2015 PanAm Games from July 12-18.

They’ll get a rematch against Team Venezuela in their last group match at the PanAm games on July 16.

Saskatoon schedule

June 26, Canada vs. Guatelemala, 6:30 p.m.

June 27, Canada vs. Czech Republic, 6 p.m.

June 28, Canada vs. New Zealand, 3 p.m.

June 29, Canada vs. Indonesia, 6 p.m.

June 30, Canada vs. Argentina, 6 p.m.

July 1, Canada vs. Great Britain, 3 p.m.

July 2, Canada vs. Philippines, 6 p.m.

Playoffs July 3-5

PanAm games schedule

July 12, Canada vs. Mexico, 7 p.m. (eastern)

July 13, Canada vs. United States, 7 p.m.

July 14, Canada vs. Argentina, 7 p.m.

July 15, Canada vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m.

July 16, Canada vs. Venezuela, 4:30 p.m.

Playoffs July 17-18

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea