News Stories
Laurier Softball finishes fourth in the nation
October 14, 2015
Oshawa, ON
Laurier Softball finishes fourth in the nation
Golden Hawks lose bronze medal match to Saskatchewan 3-1
The women’s softball team came away from this past
weekend’s National Championships, hosted by Durham College with a fourth
place result.
Starting round robin action Friday against the
University of Saskatchewan Huskies, the Laurier squad was halted by a
401 closure and arrived just before game time. The Huskies took
advantage of a cold squad barely able to warm-up with a 7-0 win. The
Golden Hawks threatened early in the first inning with two runners in
scoring position but that is as close as they would get. Huskies thrower
Haley Volk shut the Laurier offense down and would scratch away runs of
their own starting in the third right through to the seventh for the
opening round loss for Laurier.
The Golden Hawks were right back
at it in a double header, playing the 14-1 Regina Cougars. Laurier
opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Ellen Westlaken
reached on an error. She was moved to second on a bunt by Kathryn Kennaley and Amelia Ballak
then scored Westlaken for the lead. Another run was manufactured in the
third on a series of bunts followed by a fielder’s choice by Westlaken
for the 2-0 lead. The Hawks would add one more run in bottom of the
sixth and Amy Campagnolo
was lights out on the mound. She was only one out away, with two
strikes on the batter in the bottom of the seventh from throwing a
perfect game for the Golden Hawk in their first victory of the National
Championships.
Laurier then had their fate in their own hands to
move to the medal round in their last round robin game against the local
Conestoga Condors. Two evenly matched teams fought it out in seven hard
played innings with the Golden Hawks prevailing 3-2. Laurier scored two
in the first inning however the Condors answered back with two of their
own in the top of the second. Staying that way until the fourth inning
with two out, Bobbi Sue Hentges reached base, was advanced on a single
by Nicole Gagnier then Campagnolo helped her own cause with another single for the lead the Hawks would never look back on.
The
win put Laurier second in their pool and would have them facing the
Calgary Dinos in quarter final action. An odd game, with plenty of
controversial calls on both sides of the diamond, the Golden Hawks found
themselves in an offensive battle with the Dino’s. While the Hawks were
up 7-1 early, Calgary came back and made it a 7-6 game at one point.
However that was all for Calgary as Laurier pounded three runs in the
sixth inning for the 10-6 win. Both Bobbi Sue Hentges and Gagnier had 2
RBIs apiece, Rachel Warmington was 3-4 with an RBI, Lyndsey Allingham 2-4 with ab RBI, and Amelia Ballak was the MVP of the game going 3-3 with 4RBIs for Laurier.
This
now put the Laurier Golden Hawks in semi-final action against the
Western Mustangs, a rematch of last year’s Ontario Championship.
Scoreless in the third, the potent Mustangs offense took care of two
Laurier mistakes and opened up a 4-0 lead. Laurier would answer back
with one of their own in the bottom of the fourth but had a runner
thrown out at home to end the threat. The Hawks threatened every inning
after that but failed to score with runners in scoring position as the
`Stangs got the best of the Hawks.
Laurier now faced a bronze
medal game against the Saskatchewan Huskies. With the wind howling in
the first inning, the Huskies had two bloop singles which opened an
early 1-0 lead. They would add two more in the fourth inning to extend
their lead to 3-0. Laurier wouldn`t get go as a pinch hit from Ballak
scored Alanna Hentges
and the Hawks were back in it, down 3-1. Down to their final three
outs, Huskies shortstop made two highlight reel plays to steal the
bronze medal away from the Hawks. Laurier left 11 runners on base and
had a number of threats, however missed out on those opportunities with a
clutch hit.
“Although it wasn’t the finish we set out at the
beginning of the week, the fourth best softball program in the country
is certainly nothing to be ashamed of,†said Laurier Head Coach Matt Allen.
The
Golden Hawks will now re-group for this weekend’s Provincial
Championships hosted by the Queen’s Gaels. Laurier finished second place
in regular season play and will face the Carleton Ravens Friday night,
Ottawa Gee-Gees Saturday morning, and Brock Badgers Saturday afternoon
in round robin action.
