Canada
3
–
1
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the first inning on a leadoff home run by Quianna Diaz-Patterson. Canada didn’t wait long to respond, putting up two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) got the inning started with a walk, and Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) followed that up with two-run homerun for the 2-1 lead.
Team Canada extended its lead in the third, adding a run in the frame. Another walk started the inning, this time by Entzminger. Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) followed with a single that moved Entzminger to third and Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.) delivered a run-scoring single to put Canada up 3-1.
Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) got the start in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, earning her first win of the tournament. She allowed a homerun to the first batter she faced and followed that by issuing a walk, but from that point forward she was locked in and completely shut down the Puerto Rican offence, retiring 20 of the final 24 batters she faced. Lawrie went the full seven innings in the contest, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and striking out 12 batters.
Offensively, Entzminger’s two-run home run was the key hit for Canada with Speers adding a double, a single and an RBI. Hayward, Gilbert and Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) each contributed singles.
Canada
8
–
0
Venezuela
Team Canada got another strong pitching performance, this time from Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) who threw a perfect game, retiring all 15 batters she faced without allowing a baserunner and striking out ten batters. The Canadian offence got the scoring started early, and three multiple run innings earned Canada the win on the run rule.
In the bottom of the first inning, Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) got things started with a leadoff walk, and after stealing second base, she was advanced to third on a ground out to the pitcher. With Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) at the plate, Hayward crossed the plate on a wild pitch to open the scoring. Gilbert earned a walk of her own and Canada loaded the bases with a single by Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and a walk by Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.). Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) singled on a ground ball up the middle tracked by the second baseman to score Gilbert from third, and an error on an attempted flip to the shortstop allowed Salling to score as Canada took the 3-0 lead.
The red and white put up three more runs in the third. The first run came off the bat of Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) who singled home Polidori after she led off the inning with a walk, was advanced to second on a sacrifice by Franklin and took third on a wild pitch. Hayward came through with the final two runs of the inning with a single of her own that scored Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) and Lye.
Team Canada’s last two runs came in the bottom of the fourth. Gilbert led off the inning with a double and Salling followed up with a single to put two runners on base. After the runners advanced to second and third by tagging on a fly out by Polidori, Franklin doubled over the centerfielder to give Canada a commanding 8-0 lead.
Groenewegen got her final three up and three down inning in the top of the fifth to seal the victory and the perfect game.
Franklin drove in three runs for Canada, while Hayward and Salling each collected a pair of hits. Lye contributed a run-scoring single while Gilbert had a double and scored twice.
United States
6
–
1
Canada
Team Canada got off to a good start, opening the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) launched a solo home run over the left field fence to give Canada a 1-0 lead.
Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) got the start for Canada and held the United States off the scoresheet over the first two innings, but the Americans responded with three runs in the third. They loaded the bases on an infield single to second, a two-strike bunt single and a slap single to a vacated shortstop before Ali Aguilar hit a single off first base to score two runs. The third run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly to center as Team USA took a 3-1 lead.
A solo home run by Haylie McCleney added a run to the American lead in the fifth, and a two-run shot by Delaney Spaulding in the seventh made it 6-1 in favour of Team USA.
Canada had a few chances to score, getting two runners on in the fourth when Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) led off the inning with a hit by pitch and stole second, with Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) later drawing a walk but American pitcher Monica Abbott was able to strike out three batters to get out of the inning.
The fifth started with another leadoff baserunner for Canada, this time thanks to a single to Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.), but she was called out for leading off and two strikeouts by Abbott ended the inning. Abbott retired Canada in order in each of the last two innings to seal the complete game win.
Lawrie started for Canada in the pitcher’s circle and allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts over three innings. Jenna Caira (Toronto, Ont.) pitched two innings of relief, allowing a solo homerun and striking out two, while Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) gave up two runs on three hits and one strikeout over the last two innings.
Canada
7
–
0
Peru
Jenna Caira (Toronto, Ont.) got the start in the pitcher’s circle and went four innings allowing only one hit while striking out three to earn the win for Canada. Morgan Rackel (Calgary, Alta.) came on in relief to start the fifth and retired all six batters she faced to earn the save.
Backed by another dominant pitching performance, the Canadian offence went to work, breaking through with a run in the third, and adding five in the fifth and one in the sixth to seal the victory.
Three straight singles from Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.), Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) and Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) loaded the bases to start the third inning and Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) later lined a sacrifice fly to left to score Lye from third.
Team Canada broke the game open in the fifth inning with a five-run offensive outburst that sealed the game. With Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) and Wideman on second and third, Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Wideman. The next three runs came all at once off the bat of Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.) as she launched a home run to center to clear the bases and put Canada up 5-0. The final run of the inning came off when Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) singled and scored on a double to the left field fence by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.).
The final run of the game came in the sixth on another set of consecutive hits. Polidori got a one-out double and was singled home by Entzminger to round out the score at 7-0.
All nine starting Canadian batters had at least one hit as Canada racked up thirteen in the contest. Speers led the way offensively for Canada with three runs batted in on two hits, followed by Entzminger who earned two RBIs on a hit and a sacrifice fly.
Canada
4
–
0
Mexico
Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) earned her second win in the pitcher’s circle for Team Canada, pitching five innings of three-hit shutout ball before being replaced by Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.) to start the fifth. Along the way, Lawrie recorded five strikeouts and only allowed one walk. Groenewegen closed out the game for Canada, going two innings to complete the shutout, allowing only one hit and one walk with one strikeout.
At the plate, Canada once again scored early with a run in the second and adding three in the third to seal the victory.
In the second inning, Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.) doubled off the third baseman to lead off the inning and after being sacrificed ahead to third by Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.), she crossed the plate on a single by Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, Ont.).
Another leadoff runner got the inning started for Canada in the third. This time it was Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) with a single, and she advanced to third two batters later on a single by Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.). Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.) came up to the plate and launched a three-run shot to center for her second home run of the tournament to give Canada a 4-0 lead.
Mexico was unable to get much going offensively as Canada earned the shutout victory.
Gilbert’s three runs batted in on the day led the way for Canada, and she finished the preliminary round with the team lead in the category with five.
Canada
3
–
2
United States
The Americans were limited to two runs on three hits thanks to a combined pitching effort from Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.), Jenna Caira (Toronto, Ont.) and Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.). Groenewegen got the start in the circle for Canada and went three innings while allowing a run on one hit, one walk and striking out three. Caira was next up, taking over to start the fourth and her one walk allowed was the only baserunner in her two innings of work to go along with three strikeouts to pick up the eventual win. Lawrie also racked up three strikeouts in her two innings after coming in to start the sixth. Lawrie allowed a run on two hits but was able to register the save for Canada.
The United States got on the board first with a solo home run from Haylie McCleney to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Canada was quick to respond, tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the second. Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) started off the inning by getting on base thanks to a hit by pitch and was sent home thanks to consecutive singles by Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, Ont.) and Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.).
Team Canada took the opportunity to add to their lead in the fourth. Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) and Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) earned their way aboard with back-to-back singles and Lye came home on a high chopper to shortstop by Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.) who crossed first safely, and Hayward later scored on a single by Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) as Canada took the 3-1 lead.
That last run proved to be the difference, as the Americans got a run in the sixth to pull within one with another solo homer from McCleney, her second of the contest. That was the closest the Americans would come, with Lawrie working around a leadoff double by Delaney Spaulding in the bottom of the seventh and leaving her stranded at third to secure the victory for Canada.
United States
3
–
1
Canada
The game was a tense affair, with the two teams trading runs in the second and fourth before the Americans rallied in the sixth for the two runs they would need for the win.
The combined efforts of Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, B.C.), Jenna Caira (Toronto, Ont.) and Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) held the Americans to one run over the first five innings until they took advantage of a few miscues to score two runs in the sixth. Despite a valiant effort in the top of the seventh, Canada was unable to come back.
The United States broke through with the first run of the game on a home run from Michelle Moultrie in the bottom of the second with Canada responding with a home run of their own two innings later off the bat of Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.).
Despite getting runners on base in the bottom of the fourth and fifth, the United States were unable to take the lead, with Caira pitching around traffic on the bases to keep the game tied.
In the sixth, three straight singles gave the Americans a 2-1 lead, and an unlucky bounce off the pitcher and a bounced throw to first allowed another run to score in the frame.
Team Canada pushed hard to find the tying run in the seventh, with a leadoff single from Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and a two out single by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.), but Monica Abbott was able to shut the door and stop the Canadian rally to secure the victory for the Americans.
