Team Canada Splits Doubleheader at WBSC
Junior Women’s World Softball Championship

(Oklahoma City, OK) The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team split a pair of games at the WBSC Junior Women’s World Softball Championship on Monday, dropping a 5-0 decision to the defending World Champions from Japan before rebounding with a 10-0 win in four innings over Colombia.
 
In the first game, Japan got on the board by scoring the game’s first run in the top of the first when the leadoff batter walked and advanced to third on an error before later scoring on a sacrifice fly to left. In the bottom of the second, Taylor Lundrigan (Abbotsford, BC) led off with a single to center but was retired on a fielder’s choice by the next batter. Brielle McCullough (Saskatoon, SK) later drew a two-out walk but the next batter struck out to leave two runners on base. Japan added a run to its lead on a double later followed by a two-out triple to score their second run in the top of the third, and manufactured another in the fourth on a leadoff walk with the runner being sacrificed to second and scoring on a single to left to make the score 3-0.
 
Courtney Gilbert (Delhi, ON) led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to third but the three next batters flew out. Japan went on to add another run in the sixth when their leadoff batter reached on an error, was sacrificed over to second and stole third before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center. Japan added its fifth run on a solo homerun to center in the top of the seventh inning, and Canada was retired in order to end the game.
 
Box Score: Japan 5 vs. Canada 0
 
Elizabeth Murphy (Maple Ridge, BC) took the loss for Canada in the pitcher’s circle, allowing three runs with two being earned on four hits and three walks, striking out three batters in four innings. Madison Clarke (Edmonton, AB) pitched the last three innings in relief, yielding two runs (one earned) on two hits and one strikeout. Canada put the ball in play all game long but was held to two hits, singles by Lundrigan and Gilbert.
 
Against Colombia, pitcher Ashley Penney (Victoria, BC) fired a four inning perfect game, retiring all 12 batters she faced. Her offence gave her an early cushion by sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, BC) got things started with a leadoff walk and stole second before scoring on a ground ball that was caught by the diving second baseman but her throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag. A passed ball advanced Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, BC) to second before Emma Entzminger (Victoria, BC) walked, with the runners advancing to second and third with a double steal on a ball in the dirt. Lundrigan followed up with a two-run single through the left side of the infield, and advanced all the way to third when the left fielder’s throw sailed over the catcher to the backstop. Alisha Welch (Langley, BC) walked and stole second before McCullough lifted a sacrifice fly to right, later followed by a run-scoring double past the second baseman by Mary Martin (Winnipeg, MB). Canada added their sixth run on passed ball to take the early 6-0 lead.
 
After two quick innings that saw Canada get one runner on base with a walk in both the second and third innings, the red and white put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Julianna Waldner (Altona, MB) reached on an error when she slapped a ball that hit the third baseman’s glove and immediately scored on a triple to the left-center field gap by Jenkins. Pilgrim drew a walk and stole second before Entzminger hit a ground out to shortstop, allowing Jenkins to score from third. A wild pitch pushed Pilgrim to the plate, and Welch singled off the pitcher followed by another single to left by McCullough that the left fielder misplayed, allowing Welch to score all the way from first as Canada took the run rule win.
 
Box Score: Canada 10 vs. Colombia 0
 
Penney struck out six batters in her four perfect innings. Jenkins had a run-scoring triple while Martin drove in a run with a double. Pilgrim, Lundrigan, Welch and McCullough each singled to complete Canada’s six hits.
 
In other scores on a very busy day two at the WBSC Junior Women’s World Softball Championship:
 
Czech Republic 3 vs. Brazil 2
Great Britain 1 vs. Argentina 0
United States 20 vs. Italy 0
Puerto Rico 10 vs. Mexico 1
Australia 7 vs. Chinese Taipei 6
New Zealand 4 vs. Great Britain 1
Japan 20 vs. Colombia 0
China 15 vs. Argentina 0
Mexico 1 vs. Czech Republic 0
Chinese Taipei 1 vs. Italy 0
Puerto Rico 7 vs. Brazil 0
United States 6 vs. Australia 1
China 3 vs. New Zealand 0
 
Team Canada (2-1) will play another doubleheader on Tuesday, taking on Argentina (1-2) at 1:00pm CDT followed by Great Britain (2-1) at 5:30pm CDT. Live scoring and web streaming is available through the event page on USA Softball’s website.