Surrey, B.C. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team was eliminated from the Canada Cup after a 4-1 loss to Chinese Taipei on Saturday. The Taipei offence put pressure on Canada all game long, while the Canadian bats were unable to get the key hits when they needed them.
 
Kelsey Harshman (Delta, B.C.) tried to get Canada going early with a leadoff double past the sliding left fielder, but a line out, a ground out and a pop out left her stranded on third. In the top of the third, Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) led off with a single but was thrown out on a steal attempt, followed by a double to left by Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) who later advanced to third but was also left stranded.
 
Chinese Taipei opened the scoring in the bottom half of the third, loading the bases with two singles and a walk before scoring a run on a single. Morgan Rackel (Calgary, Alta.) came in relief of starting pitcher Ruby Anderson (Victoria, B.C.) and made an incredible leaping catch on a line drive and threw the ball over to first for the double play and to hold the game at 1-0. That played sparked Team Canada, as Kianna Jones (Surrey, B.C.) lined a double to the gap in left field followed by a double to right by Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) to tie the game.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Taipei got a two out triple followed by a single to take a 2-1 lead and added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth when the first three batters singled and an errant throw at first allowed one run to score, followed by a safety squeeze to bring in another for a 4-1 lead. Canada did not go down easily, as Entzminger led off the seventh with a single and Harshman reached on an error, but a fly out to right and a ground out to third ended the game.
 
Box Score: Chinese Taipei 4 vs. Canada 1
 
Anderson allowed one run on four hits and struck out one over two innings and a third, while Rackel was saddled with the loss allowing three runs – two earned – on six hits in three innings. Jorde Chartrand (Weyburn, Sask.) pitched the final two thirds of an inning. Four of Canada’s seven hits were doubles by Harshman, Jones, Leung and Wideman, with Leung adding a single and a run batted in. Entzminger singled twice.
 
The loss eliminated Canada from the tournament, while Chinese Taipei moves on to face the winner of a game between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands later tonight. The United States and Triple Crown Colorado are also slated to play in the winner’s bracket, with the winner of that game going directly to Sunday’s championship game.
 
Canada’s upcoming schedule includes Celebration Tour stops in Saskatchewan (Melfort, Prince Albert and Saskatoon) from June 29 to July 1^st. Ticket information can be found on the Celebration Tour website. From there, the team will travel to Florida for a few games against the Florida Vibe (July 3-4) before moving on to Birmingham, Ala. for The World Games July 9-13.