Chiba, Japan – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team began the playoff round of the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship with an 8-1 win over the Netherlands in five innings, eliminating them from the tournament.
Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) had a monster day at the plate with two homeruns, a double and seven runs batted in, while
Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) fired a one-hitter to earn the win in the pitcher’s circle.
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Team Canada did not waste any time jumping out to an early lead as
Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.) led off with a walk, stole second and moved up to third on a throwing error by the catcher before scoring on a single to right by
Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, B.C.). In the top of the second, the Netherlands got a solo homerun by Soclaina Van Gurp to tie the game for Lawrie’s only blemish on the day. Franklin took over from there, hitting a two-run shot to center in the bottom of the second after
Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) was hit by a pitch to give Canada a 3-1 lead.
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In the fourth inning,
Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.) led off with a double to left followed by a walk by
Jenny Gilbert (Saskatoon, Sask.). After the runners were sacrificed to second and third by Leung, Franklin sent her second homerun of the game over the centerfield fence for a three-run blast to increase Canada’s lead to 6-1. The following inning,
Jenn Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) led off with a walk and
Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.) reached on a fielder’s choice, with both runners being sacrificed ahead by Polidori. Gilbert was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Franklin laced a two-run double to right to end the game on the run rule.
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Box Score: Canada 8 vs. Netherlands 1 Â
Lawrie allowed a run on one hit and struck out seven, facing only one batter over the minimum in the five-inning win. Franklin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two homerun, a double and seven runs batted in, with Polidori adding a double and a run scored. Jenkins contributed a run-scoring single and Hayward singled, scored and stole two bases for the red and white.
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The loss eliminated the Netherlands from the tournament, with Canada moving on to play Puerto Rico at 12:00pm JST on Saturday (11:00pm EDT Friday). Live scoring is available through the
WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship website, with live streaming available at
FloSoftball.com (paid subscription required).
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In the other Championship round games, Mexico eliminated Italy with a 1-0 win in nine innings, the United States defeated Australia 3-1 and Japan beat Puerto Rico 7-0. As a result, Mexico will play Australia at 9:30am JST on Saturday, with the winner of that game playing the winning team of the Canada vs. Puerto Rico game at 3:30pm JST. Japan and the United States will meet 7:00pm JST with the winner of that game advancing directly to Sunday’s Gold medal game.
The Placement round saw Chinese Taipei defeat Botswana 8-1, China blanked South Africa 3-0, Venezuela shut out New Zealand 4-0 and Great Britain shaded the Philippines 2-1.