(Clearwater, Fla.) The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team pushed its record to 4-0 with a pair of key victories on Wednesday, defeating Korea 5-1 and Great Britain 4-2.
Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage (Fort McMurray, Alta.) held Korea down for most of the game with Canada manufacturing the runs needed to pull out the win, while Great Britain took an early 2-0 lead but Canada got singles runs in the second and third before adding two in the bottom of the sixth.
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Against Korea, Canada opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when
Allyse Volpe (Toronto, Ont.) led off with a single and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt with no one covering third base before scoring on a single over the pitcher’s glove by
Grace Messmer (Surrey, B.C.). The following inning,
Abbey Fortin (Langley, B.C.) hit a towering fly ball to left-center that the centerfielder was not able to catch, with Fortin cycling all the way to third on the error before scoring on a single to right field by
Hannah Finkelstein (Richmond, B.C.). Canada loaded the bases on a single by
Emma Adams (Rockwood, Ont.) and an error before
Rebecca Jones (Toronto, Ont.) hit a sacrifice fly ball to right, followed by a run-scoring double over the centerfielder off the bat of Messmer.
Maria Palmegiani (Surrey, B.C.) then hit a ground ball to shortstop and reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing another run to score as Canada took a 5-0 lead.
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Canada got a pair of one-out singles from Fortin and Finkelstein in the third but was unable to add to its lead. Meanwhile, Aguilar-Beaucage retired Korea in order in each of the first three innings before the Koreans were able to get a two-out single in the fourth as well as a two-out double in the fifth, but couldn’t advance the runners any further. Korea was able to push a run across in the seventh with a leadoff single followed by two ground outs and an RBI single, but that was as close as they would get.
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Box Score: Canada 5 vs. Korea 1 Â
Aguilar-Beaucage went the distance for Canada, allowing a run on four hits and striking out seven over seven innings. Messmer went two-for-three with a double and two runs batted in, while Finkelstein added two singles and drove in one. Volpe, Fortin, Adams and
Zoe Hicks (Boissevain, Man.) each chipped in with a hit.
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In the second game, Great Britain got on the board quickly with two runs in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single. The following inning, Canada cut the lead in half as Palmegiani reached on an error and was replaced by pinch-runner
Alexis Huggart (Treherne, Man.) who move up to second on a single and to third on a ground out before scoring on a single by
Amanda Janes (Brampton, Ont.). The red and white would go on to tie the game in the third when Volpe led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to center by Messmer. Canada proceeded to load the bases on a single by Palmegiani and a hit by pitch by
Becki Monaghan (Spruce Grove, Alta.), but a strikeout and a pop out to third left three runners stranded.
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In the bottom of the fourth, Canada got a pair of two-out singles by Volpe and Jones but the next batter grounded out. Canada brought in Aguilar-Beaucage in relief of starter
Kara Bilodeau (Cumming, Ga.) to start the fifth inning and the first batter reached with a single. Aguilar-Beaucage got a pair of strikeouts before giving up another single, but got the next batter to strike out to end the threat. Palmegiani led off the bottom of the inning with a double and was sacrificed to third, but the next two batters were retired to leave the game tied 2-2 after five innings of play. In the sixth, Hicks hit a one-out double followed by a bunt single by Volpe to put runners on the corners before Jones hit a ground ball to shortstop that was thrown to home but Hicks made a great slide to get around the tag to give Canada its first lead of the game. Messmer followed up with a run-scoring single to right to put Canada on top 4-2. Great Britain put some pressure on in the top of the seventh on a single and an error, but the runner on second was tagged out on a ground ball to third to end the game.
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Box Score: Canada 4 vs. Great Britain 2 Â
Bilodeau settled in after the first inning, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out three in four innings. Aguilar-Beaucage picked up the win in relief, scattering four hits with four strikeouts in three innings. Messmer had a pair of hits and drove in two runs, with Volpe also getting two singles and scoring twice. Palmegiani chipped in with a double and a single, with Hicks adding a double and other hits going to Jones, Monaghan and Janes.
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The two wins improved Canada’s first-place record to 4-0 in Section D, while Korea dropped to 1-3 and Great Britain to 2-2. Canada will finish its preliminary round schedule with a showdown against China (3-1) at 5:30pm EDT today, with the winner locking up first place in Section D.