FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2011
Canada suffers big loss to United States at Pan American Games (Guadalajara, Mexico) The Canadian Senior Women's National Team jumped out to an early lead, but was unable to hold a potent American batting lineup as they lost 12-5 in five innings on the run rule. Team Canada will wrap up its preliminary round schedule against the Dominican Republic at noon EDT on Friday.
Canada wasted no time jumping all over the United States to start the game, as
Melanie Matthews (Surrey, BC) led the game off with an inside the park homerun to right field.
Jennifer Yee (North Delta, BC) then hit a one-out double followed by an intentional walk to
Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, ON), with both runners moving up on a passed ball.
Kelsey Haberl (Burnaby, BC) forced a walk to load the bases, and
Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, BC) forced yet another walk to push the second run across the plate. After a strikeout,
Erin Cumpstone (Saskatoon, SK) was hit by a pitch for another run, and
Jill Russell (London, ON) delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield to give Canada a 5-0 lead.
Team USA came roaring back in the bottom of the second, scoring five runs to tie the game and chasing two Canadian pitchers in the process. The Americans pushed five runs in with a combination of hits, walks, an illegal pitch, and a passed ball to scrape together the runs, highlighted by RBI singles by Michelle Moultrie and Stacy May-Johnson.
USA added three more runs in the bottom of the third when Michelle Moultrie hit a two-run triple and scored on an RBI groundout. They then added another on an inside the park homerun by Stacy May-Johnson to take a 9-5 lead in the fourth, and three more in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run double by Jenae Leles and an RBI single by Valerie Arioto to round out the scoring.
The game was much closer than the end result, with Canada stranding two runners in each of the first, third and fourth innings, and a total of seven in five innings.
Ashley Lanz (Winnipeg, MB) started the game for Canada, throwing a good first inning before USA got to her in the second with four hits and three runs.
Sarah Phillips (Mississauga, ON) came out in relief and walked the two only batters she faced, followed by
Jenna Caira (Toronto, ON) who was not able to stop the bleeding, allowing three runs over the next inning and a third before Lanz re-entered the game in the bottom of the third.
Jennifer Yee had a pair of hits for Canada, while six other players each added a hit. Jill Russell drove in two runs, while Matthews had the inside the park homerun to lead off the game.
The loss left Canada into a tie for second place with Venezuela with a 4-2 record, with Cuba sitting at 3-2 with a game in hand. The United States have clinched first place with a 6-0 record. The top four teams will advance to the playoff round.
Canada 5 vs. United States 12 - Box Score XVI Pan American Games - Softball Standings -SC-
For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softbll.ca
