Canada seeks world softball championship

Host Team Canada continues to look for its first-ever world junior men’s softball championship on home soil this weekend at Prince Albert.

Japan, Australia, Argentina and Mexico have advanced to the championship round out of Group A, while Canada, New Zealand, Czech Republic and U.S.A. advanced through Group B. Japan and Canada both went undefeated to win their respective groups. The eight teams represent the same playoff field as the 2016 junior men’s softball world championship.

Overall, 13 countries are being represented in Prince Albert.

Five nations — Denmark, Guatemala, India, Hong Kong and South Africa — have been eliminated from medal contention.

Canada, which went undefeated in Group B with a perfect 5-0 record to earn double-life status through the playoff round this weekend, won its only world junior title back in 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Canada met Australia (5-1 in Group B) in first-round playoff action late Friday night. The final result was not available at press time. The Canadians and Aussies previously played each other in 2014 at Whitehorse, with Australia winning, 5-0. Canada’s squad includes Saskatchewan players Troy Kosmynka of Warman and Ryan Smith of Shellbrook.

The bronze-medal and goldmedal games will be played Sunday afternoon at noon and 3 p.m., respectively, at Prime Ministers’ Park Field in Prince Albert.

Blades acquire gritty veteran forward: The Saskatoon Blades have acquired 19-year-old forward Riley McKay from the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for a pair of draft picks: A fourth-round selection in 2019 and seventh-round pick in 2020.

“Riley is a player who is very hard to play against,” said Blades general manager Colin Priestner in a news release. McKay, a native of Swan River, Man., has played 113 career Western Hockey League regular-season games. He had 22 points and 275 penalty minutes in two seasons with the Chiefs.