2026 Men’s Pan American Championship
Monteria, Colombia – The Canadian Men’s National Softball Team has arrived in Monteria and is going through its preparations ahead of the WBSC Americas Men’s Pan American Championship that will begin this Saturday, February 21st and run until February 28th.
The tournament will feature thirteen teams vying for six spots in the 2028 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Group Stage, and it will also serve as a qualifier for the 2027 Pan American Games if Men’s Softball is added to the programme. Five of the top eight teams in the WBSC World Rankings will be in competition: No. 2 Venezuela, No. 3 Argentina, No. 4 Canada, No. 5 USA and No. 8 Mexico. The other teams include No. 11 Dominican Republic, No. 12 Guatemala, No. 13 Colombia, No. 20 Cuba, No. 22 Panama, No. 34 Peru, Aruba and Puerto Rico.
Team Canada is in Group B and will open its tournament against Venezuela at 11:30am EST on Saturday, February 21st. The 13 teams are divided into one group of five and two of four, with the top three teams from each of the three groups will advance to the super round and play against the advancing teams from the other groups. The other teams in Group B with Canada and Venezuela are Colombia and Peru.
The Canadian team is led by head coach John Hill (St. John’s, N.L.), who will be joined by assistant coaches Doug Allin (Peachland, B.C.) and Ryan Ray (Saskatoon, Sask.). Mark Quinn (Mermaid, P.E.I.) will be providing support as performance analyst, and Darren Smale (St. Marys, Ont.) will be working as the team’s trainer.
ATHLETES
Denny Benson (Rama, ON)
Ryan Bicknell (Prince Albert, SK)
Connor Brooks (Napanee, ON)
Blake Brubacher (Newton, ON)
Quinten Bruce (Grand Valley, ON)
Jordan Hudson (Saskatoon, SK)
Derek Hyde (Tavistock, ON)
Dallas Kipfer (Kitchener, ON)
Justin Laskowski (Warman, SK)
Max Major (Delisle, SK)
Devon McCullough (Saskatoon, SK)
Mitch McKay (Tavistock, ON)
Jordan Pomeroy (Placentia, NL)
Tyler Randerson (New Hamburg, ON)
Justin Schofield (Kings, NS)
Nick White (Truro, NS)
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach – John Hill (St. John’s)
Associate Coach – Doug Allin (Campbell River, BC)
Guest Coach – Ryan Ray (Saskatoon, SK)
Performance Analyst – Mark Quinn (Mermaid, PEI)
Trainer – Darren Smale (St. Mary’s, ON)
Manager – Operations – Gilles LeBlanc (Dieppe, NB)
CEO – Mike Branchaud (Cornwall, ON)
UMPIRE
Ed Otterman (Kitchener, ON)
TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE
February 21 vs. Venezuela at 11:30am EST
February 22 vs. Colombia at 8:00pm EST
February 23 vs. Peru at 5:30pm EST
February 24-27 Super Round TBD
February 28 Medal Round TBD
Coverage of the Men’s Pan American Championship will be available through Softball Canada’s social media channels, the event website and streaming by Softball Premier TV at https://gametime.sport/.
