Another quiet night at the plate ultimately ended Canada’s hopes of a championship run at the Junior Men’s World Softball Championship in Whitehorse.

Japanese ace Kento Okazaki tossed a two-hitter, striking out seven en route to a 7-0 win.

The 19-year-old also drove in three runs, highlighted by a towering two-run shot over the centre-field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The hit would chase losing pitcher Johnny Baker from the game in favour of Tyler Randerson.

The hard-throwing right-hander allowed three more runs in his two innings of work, including a solo homer to Kazuki Kajihara in the bottom of the sixth that ended the game on the mercy rule.

Canada’s record dropped to 3-5 with the loss.

Japanese slugger Haruki Kinjo homered in the fifth as his team kept its slim playoff hopes alive.

“If (we had) lost this one, it was basically over,” Japan coach Yoshio Yamaguchi told reporters via local translator Fumi Torigai.

The three homers were the most Japan has hit in a game, the coach said.

“I think all players were really concentrated, focused,” Yamaguchi said. “(Okazaki) was excellent.”

Handing the ball to Okazaki was a no-brainer. The young pitcher went head-to-head with Argentina’s Huemul Mata in the 2012 championship final before eventually being tagged with the loss.

Okazaki – whose heater comes across the plate as fast as 78 mph – struck out the heart of Canada’s order in the top of the fourth, then hit one over the fence in the bottom half of the inning.

“They have a lot of really powerful batters, so I had to focus on where to aim my pitches,” Okazaki said post-game. “I really focused on throwing it to the right place.”

Canadian centre-fielder Matt Pilon and first-baseman Francois-Charles Rene were the only two batters to collect hits in the contest.

“He was a great pitcher,” said Rene of Okazaki. “He has a good riseball. But maybe we were just not ready to play. I think it’s in our heads ... I think the whole team was in a bad sequence at the same time, so that didn’t help for sure.”

The 19-year-old from St-Leonard-d’Aston, Que., leads Canada’s batters with two homers and eight RBI in the tournament.

Being eliminated early hurts, Rene admitted.

“We’re playing in front of our country, so it’s tough to take, but we have to keep our heads up. It’s been a great experience.”

Canadian head coach Jim Jones said the tournament has been a failure.

“Absolutely, I consider this a disappointment, because we want to play for a medal every year,” he said. “The boys are pretty down. We always think in Canada that we have very good boys fastball, but it’s a statement that we have to get better at it.

“There’s got to be more people playing all across Canada.”

With the recent success of the Toronto Blue Jays, more young athletes are turning to baseball rather than the underhand game, Jones said.

Softball Canada also needs to work on its pitching program, said the 54-year-old coach from Leduc, Alta.

“We need to develop pitchers in Canada that can throw 80 mph,” he said candidly.

Canada will face Singapore in its final round robin game today at 5 p.m.