Surrey, B.C. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team earned another pair of wins on Friday at the 2019 Canada Cup International Softball Championship, continuing its run of dominance for the fourth straight day.
In the first game of the day and the final game of pool play, Canada topped Triple Crown Colorado 11-4 in six innings. After finishing pool play with a perfect record, Team Canada kept the momentum going with a 12-1 run rule shortened win over Puerto Rico for the second game of the day.
In the first game, Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on two one-out singles with the bases loaded. Playing from behind for the second game in a row, Team Canada responded in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to one when Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) scurried home on an error by the Colorado shortstop.
Triple Crown re-took a two-run lead the next inning on a solo home run from Mia Davidson. Canada responded in the fourth, when Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) launched a ball over the center field fence with Polidori on first after walking to lead off the inning.
The Canadian offence exploded for six runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach for Colorado. Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) launched a lead-off home run to start the surge. After Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) walked, Polidori tripled her home to make it 5-3. Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, B.C.) continued her hot hitting with a single to plate Polidori for the third run in the inning. The fourth and fifth runs came off the bat of Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) with a double that scored Jenkins and Entzminger. A Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) single finished off the scoring in the inning.
Colorado got a run back when Davidson got her second home run of the contest in the top of the sixth. Canada would shut down the Colorado offence from there, and add two more runs thanks to a Jenkins double and Entzminger triple to end the game in the sixth on the runs ahead rule.
Box Score: Canada 11 vs. Triple Crown Colorado 4
The combined pitching of Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, Alta.) and Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) kept the game close long enough for the offence to take over. Hovinga got the start in the circle for Canada, and went three innings with three earned runs on five hits and a walk. Groenewegen closed out the game after coming in to start the fourth, and allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out four.
Game two was a dominant offensive performance from Team Canada from start to finish. The offensive parade got started in the second when Entzminger came home on a sacrifice fly by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) after leading off the second with a single, stealing second and being sacrificed to third. Back-to-back doubles from Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) and Gilbert made it 2-0 in the third.
The fourth was the first of two five run frames that secured the win for Canada. With Entzminger and Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) on base, Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, Ont.) singled home the 3-0 run. Lye came up with the bases loaded two batters later, and smacked a single of her own to left field to score Leung from third to make it 4-0. Gilbert hit the fifth single of the inning for the third and fourth runs in the frame, and Salling finished off the scoring with a groundout that scored Lye. Puerto Rico broke the shutout in its half of the fourth on a solo home run from Jenna Cozza to center for its only run in the game. The scoring in the fifth was nearly identical to the fourth, coming off a single from Rafter, double from Lye, a Gilbert single and a Salling groundout to round out the scoring.
Box Score: Canada 12 vs. Puerto Rico 1
The offence led the way but was backed up in a big way by Jenna Caira’s (Toronto, Ont.) work in the circle. Caira pitched the full five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. She was especially strong in the first when she struck out the side to keep Puerto Rico off the board after they got runners on first and third with no outs.
Team Canada continues playoff action Saturday night against Scrapyard International at 6:00pm PDT.
In the first game of the day and the final game of pool play, Canada topped Triple Crown Colorado 11-4 in six innings. After finishing pool play with a perfect record, Team Canada kept the momentum going with a 12-1 run rule shortened win over Puerto Rico for the second game of the day.
In the first game, Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on two one-out singles with the bases loaded. Playing from behind for the second game in a row, Team Canada responded in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to one when Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) scurried home on an error by the Colorado shortstop.
Triple Crown re-took a two-run lead the next inning on a solo home run from Mia Davidson. Canada responded in the fourth, when Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) launched a ball over the center field fence with Polidori on first after walking to lead off the inning.
The Canadian offence exploded for six runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach for Colorado. Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) launched a lead-off home run to start the surge. After Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) walked, Polidori tripled her home to make it 5-3. Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, B.C.) continued her hot hitting with a single to plate Polidori for the third run in the inning. The fourth and fifth runs came off the bat of Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) with a double that scored Jenkins and Entzminger. A Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) single finished off the scoring in the inning.
Colorado got a run back when Davidson got her second home run of the contest in the top of the sixth. Canada would shut down the Colorado offence from there, and add two more runs thanks to a Jenkins double and Entzminger triple to end the game in the sixth on the runs ahead rule.
Box Score: Canada 11 vs. Triple Crown Colorado 4
The combined pitching of Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, Alta.) and Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) kept the game close long enough for the offence to take over. Hovinga got the start in the circle for Canada, and went three innings with three earned runs on five hits and a walk. Groenewegen closed out the game after coming in to start the fourth, and allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out four.
Game two was a dominant offensive performance from Team Canada from start to finish. The offensive parade got started in the second when Entzminger came home on a sacrifice fly by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) after leading off the second with a single, stealing second and being sacrificed to third. Back-to-back doubles from Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) and Gilbert made it 2-0 in the third.
The fourth was the first of two five run frames that secured the win for Canada. With Entzminger and Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) on base, Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, Ont.) singled home the 3-0 run. Lye came up with the bases loaded two batters later, and smacked a single of her own to left field to score Leung from third to make it 4-0. Gilbert hit the fifth single of the inning for the third and fourth runs in the frame, and Salling finished off the scoring with a groundout that scored Lye. Puerto Rico broke the shutout in its half of the fourth on a solo home run from Jenna Cozza to center for its only run in the game. The scoring in the fifth was nearly identical to the fourth, coming off a single from Rafter, double from Lye, a Gilbert single and a Salling groundout to round out the scoring.
Box Score: Canada 12 vs. Puerto Rico 1
The offence led the way but was backed up in a big way by Jenna Caira’s (Toronto, Ont.) work in the circle. Caira pitched the full five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. She was especially strong in the first when she struck out the side to keep Puerto Rico off the board after they got runners on first and third with no outs.
Team Canada continues playoff action Saturday night against Scrapyard International at 6:00pm PDT.
Canadian Juniors Earn First Win Against Great Britain U22
After going winless in the preliminary round, the Canadian Junior Women’s National Team opened the placement round with a 4-3 walk-off win over the Great Britain U22 team.
Great Britain opened the scoring with a run in the top of the third, but Canada responded with two runs on the bottom of the inning. Hayley Grice (Surrey, B.C.), Kendra Falby (Tampa, Fla.) and Allyse Volpe (Scarborough, Ont.) hit three consecutive singles to start the inning before Kianna Jones (Surrey, B.C.) hit a two-run single to center. Canada added a run to its lead in the bottom of the fourth when Grice walked and scored on a double to left by Falby, increasing the lead to 3-1.
Great Britain came back to tie the game with two runs in the fifth on an RBI ground out and single, and the game remained tied heading into the bottom of the seventh. Three walks loaded the bases for Canada before Lauren Benson (Surrey, B.C.) hit a walk-off single to left to end the game.
Box Score: Canada 4 vs. Great Britain U22 3
Samantha Ryan (Monroe, N.Y.) got the ball for Canada in the pitcher’s circle and allowed three runs on six hits striking out six batters in four innings and a third. Kianna Jones picked up the win by firing two innings and two thirds of one-hit relief.
The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team will play it next game against an undetermined opponent at 6:00pm PDT.
