The first day of the playoff round featured several exciting matchups as teams looked to move on and put themselves in good positions for Day 5.
 
Prince Edward Island 7 vs. Newfoundland & Labrador 0
 
After two scoreless inning, PEI opened the scoring in the bottom of the third when Belle Ashley drew a leadoff walk and scored on a triple by Ally Hustler, who came in to score on a sacrifice fly. PEI tacked on three more runs in the fourth by getting three consecutive singles and taking advantage of an error. Hustler led off the bottom of the sixth with another triple and scored on a single by Jamie Jenkins, who later scored on a single by Sophia Jeffery to end the game on the run rule. Neely Johnston went the distance for Team PEI, allowing only four hits and striking out six in the shutout win.
 
New Brunswick 6 vs. Nova Scotia 2
 
New Brunswick got on the board early as Sami Tonge singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. Team NB then piled on four more runs in the second, taking advantage of an error, notching a pair of RBI singles by Caitlyn Allen and Emily Rowe and a sacrifice fly to build up a 5-0 lead. Nova Scotia got back in the game in the top of the fourth, getting a pair of singles by Lauren Arnold and Jayden Palmer to start the inning before Renae Boutilier smacked a two-run double to right. Allen singled and scored on a single by Sydney Arseneault in the bottom of the fourth to round out the scoring. Michaela Vincent registered the win for NB, with Mya Slawter taking the loss for Nova Scotia.
 
British Columbia 3 vs. Ontario 2
 
In a thrilling game from start to finish, Ontario loaded the bases with three walks to start the game but a strikeout and a double play left them without anything to show for it. The following inning, Ontario led off with a single by Deanna Grahek followed by a double by Cadence Dobranski, and the next batter flew out to left with a perfect throw to the plate by Gabby Papushka to retire the runner trying to score from third. A double by Amy Hughes scored Ontario’s first run, but she was also thrown out at home on a single to right as BC got out of the inning. The pitching took over from there, as BC’s Morgan Reimer and Ontario’s Tierney Hocquard were able to keep the opposing bats at bay until Team BC managed to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Ellie Vance led off with a single, moved up to second on a ground out and scored on an error. With the game tied after seven innings, the teams moved on to the international tiebreaker with a runner starting on second base. Ontario sacrificed their runner to third and scored on a sacrifice fly to right, but BC got RBI singles by Ella Herrewig and Papushka to end the game in walk-off fashion.  
 
Quebec 8 vs. Manitoba 5
 
Manitoba opened up an early lead by loading the bases in the top of the first and taking advantage of two errors to score three runs. Two singles and an error got one run back for Quebec in the bottom of the inning, but Manitoba responded with a single by Janique Balcaen followed by a double by Emily Doyle for a 4-1 lead. Quebec continued to chip away by getting a run back in the bottom of the second when Lea Frechette singled, advanced to second on an error and scored on a single by Valerie Sigouin. The next inning, Emily Meloche led off with a single and later scored on a single by Emma Duncan, later followed by a run-scoring single by Frechette to tie the game. Manitoba started the fourth with a pair of singles and later scored a run on a fielder’s choice to regain the lead, but Quebec got a double by Sigouin and a single by Meloche with both scoring on a triple by Lea Chevrier. Quebec loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth before Meloche cracked a two-run single to center for the 8-5 lead. Duncan closed out the game to earn the win for Quebec with Hope Ransome being tagged with the loss.
 
Alberta 3 vs. Prince Edward Island 2
 
The game was scoreless through five innings as PEI’s Andrea Caron and Alberta’s Rayna Cruickshanks were able to hold the opposing bats cold. PEI managed to grab the lead in the top of the sixth by putting the leadoff batter on with an error followed by a sacrifice bunt and later a fielder’s choice, then added an insurance run in the seventh on a passed ball to take a 2-0 lead. However, Alberta’s bats woke up as Emily Greenfield led off with a walk and scored on a triple to right by Torrence Farrer, who crossed the plate on a double by Gabriela Coderre. This game also went to the international tiebreaker, with PEI unable to bring their runner in to score while Alberta sacrificed their runner to third and scored her on a sacrifice fly to end the game.
 
Saskatchewan 8 vs. New Brunswick 0
 
Saskatchewan scored the game’s first run when Raivyn Millions led off with a single and scored on a single by Olivia Woytiuk. Saskatchewan then exploded for six runs the following inning, loading the bases before drawing a walk, scoring a run on an error and getting a three-run triple by Makena Simmons who later scored on a sacrifice fly. After a single by Tehya Armstong and a walk put two runners on base, Kiana Mullner drilled a single to left to make the score 8-0. Erin Kirkland pitched a five-inning no hitter, allowing two walks and striking out six.
 
Nova Scotia 10 vs. Newfoundland & Labrador 7
 
In the ninth-place game, Nova Scotia opened the scoring in the top of the first when Lauren Arnold led off with a single and later scored on a ground out. Both teams put runners on base in the second but could not score, and Newfoundland managed to tie the game in the bottom of the third when Emily Underhay tripled and scored on an error. An RBI double by Shilo Chislett put Team NL on top 2-1 on the fourth, but Nova Scotia came back to take the lead in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Sammie Balfour and a double steal. Arnold hit an RBI triple in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2 for Nova Scotia, but Newfoundland fought back by scoring a run on a fielder’s choice and two more on a single by Hannah Healey, then took the lead on a single by Kiley Rice. Arnold hit a two-run single to put Nova Scotia back on top, and they tacked on two more runs on a single by Mya Slawter and another on a single by Renae Boutilier to make it 10-6. Newfoundland scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning but could not extend the game.  
 
Playoff matchups on Thursday will be:
 
P2 (Game 28) 11:00am: PEI (LC5) vs. NB (LC6) – Diamond #2 (7^th Place Game)
C7 (Game 29) 12:00pm: ON (LC3) vs. AB (WC5) – Diamond #1
C8 (Game 30) 1:30pm: MB (LC4) vs. SK (WC6) – Diamond #2
C9 (Game 31) 3:00pm: BC (WC3) vs. QC (WC4) – Diamond #1
P3 (Game 32) 4:00pm: Loser C7 vs. Loser C8 – Diamond #2 (5^th Place Game)
C10 (Game 33) 6:00pm: Winner C7 vs. Winner C8 – Diamond #1
 
All games can be watched at: https://niagara2022games.ca/watch/sport/softball