A New Nation Joins The Men's Open Division

After a two-day Shabbat break, Canada's Men's Open team was back in action for a double-header Sunday at Ma'or.

The Canadians would first face host Israel, followed by a meeting against Team France, which was making their first ever appearance in softball at the Maccabi Games.

Team France managed to cobble together a team just a few months before our arrival in Israel to make for a six-team round-robin competition. More impressively, in only their second game, they managed to beat Team Cuba 8-1.

But Team Canada got the better of France last night, winning the game 10-0. Jason Dinetz pitched his second shutout of the tournament to earn the victory, while Sean Dollinger capped off the win with a walk-off bases-clearing double to finish with a team-high 3 RBI on the night.

Regardless of the result, the team felt great admiration and respect for these tremendously spirited and kind-hearted men, who are genuinely happy to be in Israel and competing against Jewish fastpitch players from around the world.

Earlier in the day, the Men's Open team lost 6-2 to Israel, who were not very gracious hosts. A much-improved Israeli team played a sound game from start to finish, complete with timely hitting, strong starting pitching and flawless defence. A tip of the hat to the blue and white, as the win marked the first time in Maccabi Games history that Israel defeated Canada in men's open softball competition (dating back to 1985).

Canada resumes action later today vs. Team Cuba at Gezer.