Team Canada Shuts Out Cuba in 5-0 Win
at 2015 Pan American Games

(Ajax, ON) The Canadian Women’s Softball Team improved their record to 2-0 after shutting out Cuba 5-0 at the 2015 Pan American Games. Pitcher Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, BC) only allowed two hits in the full seven innings, while Canada’s offence produced 10 hits, including another homerun by Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, ON) and two runs batted in by Megan Timpf (Port Dover, ON).
 
Both teams went down in order in the first inning, with Groenewegen coming out strong in the bottom of the inning and striking out the side. The Canadians got on the board first in the top of the second inning with Timpf knocking in Erika Polidori (Brantford, ON) on a run-scoring single. Cuba wasn’t able to get anything going off of Groenewegen’s pitching in the second with two strikeouts and a fly ball to Joey Lye (Toronto, ON) in right field, leaving one runner on base.
 
Jenn Yee (North Delta, BC) reached base on a walk in the top of the third inning, but was left on base after back-to-back groundouts at shortstop ended the top half of the frame. Groenewegen had another strong inning with three more strikeouts, shutting down the Cuban offence once again.
 
The fourth inning started off with Polidori reaching on a single to shortstop and she would later score on an RBI single by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, BC) for Canada’s second run of the game. Jenn Salling (Port Coquitlam, BC) was solid at shortstop in the bottom of the fourth inning with two plays to get runners out at first base, leaving one runner stranded at the end of the inning. The top of the fifth was a quick one, with Canada going down in order. In the bottom half, Cuba managed their first hit of the game with a triple to hit right field but the Canadian defence prevailed and managed to prevent the run from being scored. 
 
In the top of the sixth, an error at shortstop allowed Polidori to reach base. Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, ON) followed with a single, and Sara Riske (Richmond, BC) advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Timpf picked up another RBI by forcing a play at first and allowing Polidori to score, extending Canada’s lead to 3-0. In the bottom half of the inning Cuba managed to get one runner on but was not able to capitalize on the opportunity, with Canada’s defence remaining strong through six innings.
 
In the last inning of the game Lye reached first on a single to right field, followed by Rafter’s second home run of the tournament over the left field fence, making the score 5-0 for Canada with only one out in the top of the seventh. Salling and Polidori then strung together a pair of singles but were unable to score as Cuba’s pitcher Yanelis Rodriguez came in to finish off the next two batters. Cuba’s last chance at scoring proved unsuccessful with Groenewegen striking out two batters and forcing another fly out to Lye for the catch to end the game.
 
Box Score: Canada 5 vs. Cuba 0
 
Groenewegen earned the win in the circle, pitching all seven innings while striking out twelve batters and allowing only two hits. Polidori contributed three hits in four at-bats to Canada’s total of ten hits, while Rafter had two. Losing pitcher Yillian Tornes gave up two walks, one earned run and six hits during her three innings in the circle.     
 
In other scores on day two of Women’s Softball competition at the 2015 Pan American Games, Puerto Rico earned an 11-5 win over the Dominican Republic, and the United States blanked Brazil 7-0 in five innings.
 
Team Canada (2-0) continues their Pan American Games schedule with a game against the United States (2-0) at 7:00pm EDT on Tuesday.