It wasn't the ending that Squamish's Kevin Schellenberg and the rest of Team Canada wanted.
Schellenberg and his Team Canada mates came up short at the International Softball Federation's Men's World Championships in New Zealand earlier this month and he said the fifth place finish has made him want to don the red and white one more time.
"We definitely had a disappointing result," he said. "We went there wanting to win gold and were fully capable to do so with the team we had. I thought this was the best team that Canada had assembled in the last 10 years."
It didn't start off that poorly for Team Canada, as the squad posted six wins and one loss in round robin play. Canada pitched four shutouts and was the top ranked team in the A pool.
"We started off really well," Schellenberg said. "Our pitchers and defense played good and we were right where we wanted to be heading into the playoff round."
Canada moved on to play Venezuela, who was the second ranked team in the B pool, but Schellenberg said a lack of offense hurt the team.
"It really came down to a few bad bounces," he said. "We lost 3-1 and we just didn't score enough runs. I can't really pinpoint a reason why we lost, but we just waited too long to get the offense going."
The offensive struggles continued in Canada's final game of the tournament against Argentina. Canada lost 2-1 and Schellenberg admitted that the team was emotionally spent after the devastating loss to Venezuela the day before.
"Losing to Venezuela was a pretty heartbreaking defeat and it was tough to get back into the game emotionally against Argentina," he said. "We ran into a top pitcher against Argentina and just couldn't score."
One of the few positives from the tournament for Canada was they were the only team to defeat the eventual champion New Zealand in round robin play. Schellenberg said he was happy with his play, but the team's poor result left a bad feeling in him.
"Beating New Zealand is a positive, but it reminds us that we underachieved," he said. "We know we can beat the best but we need to figure out why we lost to lower ranked teams. I was happy with my play but the team slogan was 'one team, one goal' and as a team we came up short."
Schellenberg was tied for the team lead with five runs batted in (RBI) and made zero errors in the field during tournament play. He said he hopes to represent Canada once more at either the Pan Am Games or the next ISF world championships. Both events take place in 2015.
"This result has left me with a sour taste in my mouth," he said. "We had to work so hard to get there and I just don't want to shut it down on that note."
He said the Pan Am Games or ISF tournament in 2015 will likely be his last go with Canada but noted it's been a good 13 year run. An added bonus for the shortstop is that both events take place in Canada, as the Pan Am Games are in Toronto and the ISF will be in Saskatoon.
Schellenberg also pointed out that the Howe Sound Men's Fastball League (HSMFL) is also looking for local players to join up. The league currently has three teams signed up and is always looking for more players. Contact him by email at [email protected] for more details.
