Canada coach John Stuart isn’t a fan of the Softball World Cup format even though his team is into a 10th grand final.
The Canadians beat Cuba 2-0 in Auckland on Saturday to clinch their place in Sunday’s gold medal game against champions Argentina
Argentina – the only unbeaten team in the tournament – meet Australia at 7.30pm on Saturday night but will still make the final even if they lose.
Even if Australia win – and finish level on points with Canada – they will miss out because they have already conceded more runs than the Canadians.
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Stuart said his side had three goals – to make the top-six Super Round, to get into the medal round and then to win the final.
“We’re almost there, we’ve just to finish it off tomorrow, hopefully.’’
But, although Canada now has a shot at a fifth worth title – and a first since the epic 10-5 comeback win over New Zealand in 2015 – Stuart isn’t happy with the current format which has had the finalists settled on the penultimate day.
“I don’t like the format, personally,’’ he said. “I don’t like how you can have one loss and you don’t even get in the gold medal game. It happened to us in Prague in 2019. We had one loss the whole tournament and it cost us a shot at the gold medal.’’
“There’s got to be a better way. No team here likes the format, that’s out of our control. But if you ask any team here they’d say the format needs to be tweaked to give every team a fairer opportunity.’’
Softball NZ/Whakaata Māori
The Black Sox will host 11 international rivals at the men’s Softball World Cup in Albany from November 26 to December 4.
Stuart prefers the traditional page system where “you have crossover, and maybe the top two division winners get a bye… When you come to the playoffs if you’ve got a double life, you should deserve a double life.’’
In Prague, there were knockout quarterfinals after pool play, followed by a sudden-death semifinal.’
That system was changed for Auckland, with 12 teams split into two pools for five games, followed by a six-team Super Round where sides carried their points through from their games against fellow pool qualifiers.
The new format was confusing for fans and meant the third seeds from each pool had almost no chance of making the final despite their second phase results.
WBSC
Canada players celebrate beating Cuba to make the Softball World Cup final.
World Baseball Softball Confederation softball division chairman Craig Cress said the organisers were “still trying to get used to the format’’ but he thinks it “will be a fair format, as we move forward’’.
“I think so far it’s shown that it gives the opportunities to teams to play. It’s not the page format we’re all used to, but I think it’s going to take some time to get used to.’’
Cress noted that the two teams who had topped their pools unbeaten – Canada and Argentina – would meet in the final.
He hailed the competitiveness of the tournament. “We came into this event knowing that men’s fastpitch is the most competitive event with the most parity that we have in our game now.
“We came here and nine countries probably had a chance to medal so from that standpoint the quality is great, and the quality of ball has been good.’’
Cress, who is USA Softball’s chief executive, said he “can’t say enough about what the local organising committee had done’’ despite some challenging spring weather. He praised the work of the ground crew, “especially early on in the event, when we were starting games, stopping games, starting games. They just did a great job making sure we were able to play the games in the conditions we need to play them in.’
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Meanwhile, Stuart hailed his battery for the win over Cuba
“Sean Cleary pitched a hell of a game and Ryan Boland caught a hell of game, and that was the key to us winning.
“We definitely didn’t hit the ball, that was not our best game, but good teams find a way to win, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Shane Boland scored in the first inning after a fielding error, a hit-pitch, a walk and then a bases-loaded walk by Cuba’s canny left-handed starting pitcher Guber Plutin.
Pinch hitter Jason Hill drew a walk, advanced on a fielder’s choice and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Shane Boland’s sacrifice fly.
Canada had just one hit off Plutin, a single up the middle by the in-form Bryan Abrey in the third inning.
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ACuban infielder is airborne as he takes out a Canadian runner at second base and tries for a double play.
Cleary, who nabbed 15 strikeouts, was heading towards a perfect game until Hector Castillo picked a walk in the top of the seventh and Yurisamade Ramos spoiled his no-hitter when he smashed a single into the veteran pitcher.
