July 22, 2019

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA - Canada will play a pair of exhibition games against World No. 1 ranked Japan on October 31 and November 1 in preparation for the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12® it was announced today at a news conference in Tokyo.

The series, known as the “Eneos Samurai Japan Series 2019”, will take place at Okinawa Cellular Stadium in Naha City, Japan as both countries prepare for the Premier12 event that will be staged from November 2-17.

“We are very excited to play Japan in our first ever “ENEOS SAMURAI JAPAN SERIES”, said Canada Manager Ernie Whitt. “The opportunity to play Japan’s best in a two game series prior to participating in the WBSC Premier12 is a challenge our players and staff are very excited about.

“We look forward to our time in Okinawa and playing in front of a passionate Japanese crowd in Cellular Stadium.”

Following the Eneos Samurai Japan Series, Canada will travel to Seoul, South Korea where they will participate in Premier12 Group C along with host South Korea, Australia and Cuba at the Gocheok Sky Dome.

The top two teams from each of the three opening round groups will advance to the six-team Super Round, which will be hosted by Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league and played at Chiba’s ZOZO Marine Stadium and the iconic Tokyo Dome, where the championship final will also be played.

Two spots in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic baseball competition will be awarded at Premier12 to the top finishing country of the Americas (Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and USA) and the top finisher from Asia and Oceania (Australia, Chinese Taipei and South Korea). Japan has already secured a berth by virtue of being the host country.