Surrey, B.C. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team went one and one at the 2023 Canada Cup International Softball Championship, falling to Triple Crown Colorado 8-0 and beating Mexico 13-2 on Wednesday at Softball City.

Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) led things off in the pitcher’s circle for Canada.

Triple Crown Colorado got on the board first with a two-run home run in the top of the second inning. They added to their lead in the top of the third off a double on a line drive to left field and a single to make it 4-0. Dawn Bodrug (Georgetown, Ont.) came in to relieve Groenewegen. Triple Crown Colorado made it 5-0 off a sacrifice bunt.

In the top of the fifth, Triple Crown Colorado would add three more to make the final score 8-0.

In game two against Mexico, Canada was looking to bounce back after a tough first game, however, Mexico opened the scoring on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

Samantha Ryan (Monroe, N.Y.) got the start in the circle for Canada, making her second appearance of the tournament, giving up two runs on three hits.

In the bottom of the second, Mexico added to their lead on a single to centre. Canada made a pitching change bringing in Morgan Rackel (Calgary, Alta.) in relief. Rackel pitched three and one- third innings, allowing one hit and zero runs.

Canada got their bats swinging in the top of the fourth when Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) singled on a ground ball. Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, B.C.) hit an RBI single to score Leung to put Canada on the board, 2-1.

The red and white continued the momentum in the top of the sixth when Grace Messmer (Surrey, B.C.) doubled on a line drive to left field, then Pilgrim knocked a single. Nicole Rivait (Oakville, Ont.) came up big in a crucial moment with a line drive to right field, scoring Messer and Pilgrim to give Canada the lead. Kelsey Harshman (Delta, B.C.) nailed her first home run of the Canada Cup to put Canada up 5-2. The runs kept coming when Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) walked, then Zoe Hicks (Boissevain, Man.) doubled on a line drive to score Entzminger. Leung stepped up again and tripled to centre field, scoring Hicks to make it 7-2. Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) added to the fun and hit a double to score Kianna Jones (Surrey, B.C.) to finish the inning 8-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, Groenewegen entered the pitching circle for Canada, holding the score at 8-2.

Pilgrim smashed her second home run of the tournament and third hit of the night to add a ninth run for Canada in the top of the seventh. Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) singled on a ground ball up the middle, eventually scoring off a Harshman two-run home run for her second home run of the game to make it 11-2. Entzminger then hit her second home run of the tournament to add a twelfth run, with no outs. Jones made it 13-2 when she went deep with a home run to close out the inning.

Canada closed out day three with a dominant 13-2 performance and improves their record to 4-1.

Team Canada continues round robin play against Israel Thursday night at 6:00pm PDT (9:00pm EDT). All games will be streamed here.