Santiago, Chile – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team began the 2023 Pan American Games with a 4-0 win over Cuba on Sunday. Sara Groewenegen (Surrey, B.C.), Morgan Rackel (Calgary, Alta.) and Dawn Bodrug (Georgetown, Ont.) combined for the shutout in the pitcher’s circle, while Zoe Hicks (Boissevain, Man.) hit a three-run homerun to propel Canada’s offence.
 
Cuba was the first team to threaten at the plate by starting the top of the second inning with a pair of singles and sacrificing the runners to second and third, but Groewenegen notched a key strikeout and induced a ground out to second to leave both runners stranded in scoring position. Canada got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) reached on an error followed by a single through th left side of the infield by Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) before Hicks launched a three-run shot to left, giving Team Canada 3-0 lead.
 
“I felt great. I’m always looking for ways to help my team win and to score runs” said Hicks after the game. “For me, it was important to settle into a plan and it worked, I executed today.”
 
In the third, Hicks reached on a throwing error by the shortstop with two outs and immediately scored on a double to right-center by Kianna Jones (Surrey, B.C.) to extend Canada’s lead.
 
Groenewegen scattered four hits and struck out two batters over the first four innings to earn the win, with Rackel allowing one hit and struck out three in two innings of relief. Bodrug closed out the game retiring all three batters she faced in the seventh. Kelsey Harshman (Delta, B.C.) and Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) each added a single for the red and white.
 
“It was great to get the first win, I thought the girls did pretty well. We had a plan coming in and had really great execution from the pitching staff today. Sara gave us four strong innings, Morgan came in and stayed out of trouble and Dawn came in for the last inning to close things off for us.”
 
Box Score: Canada 4 vs. Cuba 0
 
Team Canada (1-0) will have a day off on Monday and will play its next game against Peru at 10:00am local time (9:00am EDT) on Tuesday. In other action on Sunday, Mexico defeated Venezuela 9-2 in six innings and the United States beat the host tea from Chile 18-0 in three innings.