FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17th, 2011

Junior Women's National Team Wins Silver Medal at Canadian Open Fastpitch Futures Championship

(Surrey, BC) The Canadian Junior Women's National Team had a long road to get to the Championship game, but overcame a grueling schedule to earn a silver medal at the Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch Futures Gold (U19) International Championship. In a game that began last night and was resumed this morning, Canada defeated the Surrey Storm 93 team by a score of 10-0 in three innings, and followed that up with an 8-1 win over the Washington Lake Breeze and a 9-2 win over the Southern California Breakers, before losing to the California Worth Firecrackers in a thrilling 8-7 Championship game.

Team Canada (10) vs. Surrey Storm 93 (0
On Saturday night, Canada scored five runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. Jaycee Affeldt (Maple Ridge, BC) scored on an error to open the scoring, and Team Canada quickly loaded the bases before Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, BC) hit a two-run single up the middle. Jennifer Gilbert (Saskatoon, SK) then blasted a two-run homerun deep to center field. After a leadoff single in the bottom of the third, the game was delayed due to bad field conditions, and both teams would wait nearly an hour before the game was suspended due to inclement weather.

When the game resumed on Sunday morning, Canada wasted no time in getting the game out of the way. Still in the bottom of the third, Shannon Davidson (Whitby, ON) hit an RBI triple, and scored on a single by Larissa Franklin, who later scored on an error. Carey-Leigh Thomas (Oshweken, ON) then produced another run with a single, and Jaycee Affeldt doubled to give Canada the 10-0 win.

Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, AB) earned the win in the pitcher's circle, allowing one hit and two walks with three strikeouts in three innings pitched

Team Canada (10) vs. Surrey Storm 93 (0) - Box Score and Play by Play

Team Canada (8) vs. Washington Lake Breeze (1)
The red and white opened the scoring on a double steal in the first, as Victoria Hayward (Toronto, ON) raced in to score when the catcher tried to throw Erika Polidori (Brantford, ON) out at second. Canada added another run the following inning on an RBI single by Jennifer Gilbert. After Washington trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the Canadian bats broke the game open in the bottom of the inning, as Shannon Davidson hit an RBI double and later scored on another single by Gilbert. Larissa Franklin then scored on a wild pitch, and Gilbert scored on an error to give Canada a 6-0 lead.

The following inning, Larissa Franklin hit a two-out single and scored on a double by Gilbert. Victoria Hayward then singled through the right side of the infield to score Gilbert and end the game at 8-1 after five innings.

Madison Schreyer (Winnipeg, MB) picked up the win in the pitcher's circle, allowing only one hit and two walks in three innings and a third of work. She left the game for precautionary reasons after getting hit in the wrist by a ground ball, with Natalie Becker (Waterloo, ON) coming in to relieve her. Becker allowed an unearned run on a hit and a walk, striking out two in an inning and two thirds.

Team Canada (8) vs. Washington Lake Breeze (1) - Box Score and Play by Play

Team Canada (9) vs. Southern California Breakers (2)
Canada opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, as Taylor Beck (Coquitlam, BC) led off with a double, was sacrificed to third, and scored on an error. The Breakers tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a double steal, but Canada added another run the following inning on a catcher's interference call with the bases loaded to give Canada a 2-1 lead. The red and white added a little breathing room in the fourth, as they loaded the bases before Carey-Leigh Thomas hit an RBI single and Erika Polidori hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-1.

After the Breakers scored a run in the bottom half of the fourth, Canada exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth. They loaded the bases with one out on a single by Tessa Loewen (Abbotsford, BC), a fielder's choice that did not get an out by Larissa Franklin and a hit by pitch to Jennifer Gilbert. Victoria Hayward then cleared the bases with a three-run double, and scored on a single by Polidori. Polidori later scored on a ground out to extend the lead to 9-2. The Breakers managed two hits in the bottom of the fifth, but Canadian pitcher Natalie Becker (Waterloo, ON) was called in relief and struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Starting pitcher Karissa Hovinga allowed two runs and scattered nine hits in four innings and a third, striking out six batters.

Team Canada (9) vs. Southern California Breakers (2) - Box Score and Play by Play

Team Canada (7) vs. California Worth Firecrackers (8)
In a thrilling game, Canada came out firing by scoring five runs in the top of the second inning. Shannon Davidson started the inning with a walk, was sacrificed to second and advanced to third on a single by Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, ON) before scoring on a single by Kirsten Grant (Oakville, ON). After another single loaded the bases, Jennifer Gilbert hit a towering fly ball deep to right field that cleared the fence for a grand slam, giving Canada a 5-0 lead.

As quickly as Canada took that lead, the Firecrackers got it right back in the bottom of the third, sending twelve batters to the plate as they scored six runs on three hits, four walks and two errors to take a 6-5 lead. That was not enough to discourage Team Canada, as they regained the lead in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Carey-Leigh Thomas and an RBI groundout by Shannon Davidson, pushing the score to 7-6 in Canada's favour.

Canada would hold off the Firecrackers until the bottom of the seventh. After a leadoff single, Canada got two quick outs with only one runner on base, but after a walk put runners on first and second, the next Firecrackers batter lined a shot to center field that was quickly fielded and thrown to home, but the catcher could not handle the throw to allow the tying run to score. The following batter hit a hard ground ball past a diving shortstop as the Firecrackers scored the winning run.

Madison Schreyer pitched the first two and a third innings, allowing six runs - four earned - on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Natalie Becker pitched four and a third innings in relief, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks, striking out five batters.

Team Canada (7) vs. California Worth Firecrackers - Box Score and Play by Play

The Canadian Junior Women's National Team will return to action later this year when they will compete at the ISF IX Junior Women's World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa from December 6-17, 2011.



For more information, please contact:

Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 797-7171
gleblanc@softball.ca