Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Napanee was well represented at the WBSC Junior Men’s World Softball Championship last week as pitcher Riley Manion and catcher Brendan Hagerman played a huge role in helping Team Canada place fourth in the 13-team field in Prince Albert, Sask.
After going 5-0 in the round robin, Canada fell 2-0 to Australia in their first playoff game Friday, rebounded to top Argentina 6-4 before losing to eventual bronze medalists New Zealand 5-2 to end their tournament run. Australia topped Japan in the gold medal game.
Though it wasn’t the team result they were hoping for, the Softball Napanee products thrived under the bright lights of a world tournament.
Manion stole the show in Canada’s second game, tossing a complete game no-hitter over the Czech Republic in Canada’s 6-1 victory. Overall he registered a 2-0 record, recorded two saves with a 2.12 ERA. He struck out 31 over 17 innings and allowed just four earned runs on nine hits.
“I always had great support, I wouldn’t have been able to throw a no-hitter if it wasn’t for Brendan or the defence behind me,” said Manion. “It was an awesome experience to do that on that stage. It was pretty surreal.”
He says working with Hagerman, who has caught him throughout his career with the Napanee Express, was a huge benefit.
“To be able to have the chemistry we have at a tournament like this, it helps us so much,” said Manion. “You have that much more confidence in what we can do together.”
Manion said toward the middle of the game he became aware of the fact he was yet to surrender a hit.
“It was kind of in the back of my mind but I just tried to push it off, take it pitch by pitch,” said Manion. “If it happens, that’s awesome, if it doesn’t no problem. We were just lucky enough it happened.”
Manion says playing in Canada made the experience that much better as the team received overwhelming support back home and from those who made the trip to Prince Albert.
While Hagerman’s game-calling skills were invaluable to Team Canada, so too was his bat. He hit .483 over 29 at-bats with a .500 OBP, driving in seven runs, collecting 17 total bases while scoring 11 times. He also swiped four bases.
Though he says his primary focus is getting the best out of his pitchers, Hagerman says working behind the plate so much did help in his success while in the batter’s box.
“It’s quite a bit different, but you’re still aware of all the spins so it’s easier to read the spin,” Hagerman said of catching an elite pitcher compared to trying to get a hit off one. “Most of the time they’re a lot different, especially from foreign countries like New Zealand, they have a lot different spin on the ball.”
Behind the plate he gunned down two of the four base runners attempting to steal. Catching Manion’s no-hitter was among his tournament highlights.
“It was a very special moment,” said Hagerman. “That’s what we work for. We battled through all the practices, just to get a no-hitter, that was pretty cool. He threw so well against elite level athletes, it was awesome.”
Though he had plenty of experience with Manion, he had just three weeks to learn the quirks of catching the rest of the Canadian staff.
Though he too had hoped for a higher finish than fourth, he was proud of how well the team played against the best in the world.
“We had a really good week, just fell a little short during playoffs,” said Hagerman. “We battled through games and ran into some hot pitching.”
The world championship now behind them, the two will now turn their attention toward representing their hometown with the Napanee AFW Construction Express in the Under-19 Canadian Fastpitch Championship, which takes place Aug. 14-19 at the Napanee Fairgrounds Complex.
Both players were members of last year’s Express squad that earned silver at Canadians in P.E.I.
“It will help ease the nerves a bit going into nationals playing in front of our hometown,” Manion says of the worlds. “I’m super excited to get nationals going.”