Team Canada Splits Pair of Games at ISF Junior Womenâ€™s World Championship

July2013

Team Canada Splits Pair of Games at ISF Junior Womenâ€™s World Championship

July 4, 2013

Brampton, ON

Womenâ€™s World Championship

Published on July 4, 2013

(Brampton, ON) The Canadian Junior Womenâ€™s National Team split a pair of games at the ISF Junior Womenâ€™s World Championship on Wednesday, defeating Puerto Rico 4-0 before losing to the United States by that same score. Madison Schreyer (Winnipeg, MB) earned the complete game shutout in the first game, while American pitcher Cheridan Hawkins fired a one-hitter to defeat Team Canada in the night game in front of a very large crowd.

In the first game against Puerto Rico, Canada opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. Miranda Castiglione (Brampton, ON) led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a double to the right field fence by Holly Speers (Surrey, BC).

In the pitcherâ€™s circle, Schreyer retired Puerto Rico in order in each of the first two innings, but allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the third. The runner was sacrificed to second, but Schreyer got a big strike out to leave the runner in scoring positions. After a quick fourth inning, Canada put some pressure on in the top of the fifth when Keeley Van Blaricom (Southey, SK) led off with a pinch-hit single and was replaced on the bases on a re-entry by Riley Carter (Uxbridge, ON). Carter was sacrificed to second, but was caught in a rundown following an error by the second baseman. Puerto Rico managed a one-out single in the bottom half of the inning, but could not advance the runner any further.

Team Canada added to its lead with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Tori Charters (Winnipeg, MB) led off with a slap single and quickly scored on a triple over the right fielderâ€™s head by Chelsea Jenner (Abbotsford, BC). Jenner then scored on a ground ball to shortstop when she beat the throw to the plate, as Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, BC) reached base on the fielderâ€™s choice and advanced to second while the catcher was arguing the play at the plate. Chelsea Strandlund (Victoria, BC) replaced Groenewegen as a pinch runner, but was quickly erased on a line drive directly to the shortstop who tagged Strandlund for the double play. Janet Leung (Mississauga, ON) then singled, but the following batter struck out to end the inning with Canada up 3-0.

Puerto Rico put some pressure on Schreyer with a one-out double followed by the next batter reaching on an error, putting runners on first and third. However, the next batter hit a solid line drive to second base that was caught and thrown to first base for the inning-ending double play. Canada added another insurance run on a leadoff homerun by Speers, increasing the lead to 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Schreyer fell behind a couple of batters and gave up back-to-back singles with one out, but bounced back with a big strikeout, and the runner at second base was then caught between second and third and was tagged out in a rundown to end the game.

Schreyer earned the complete game shutout win, allowing five hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Speers led Canada at the plate by going two-for-two with a homerun, a double and two runs batted in. Jenner added an RBI triple, while Charters, Castiglione, Leung and Van Blaricom each added a hit.

Box score and play-by-play: Canada 4 vs. Puerto Rico 0

Against the United States, Cheridan Hawkins and Canadian pitcher Groenewegen went toe-to-toe for most of the game. Both pitchers were perfect with three strikeouts through two innings before the United States opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Groenewegen allowed back-to-back singles to begin the inning, and after striking out the next batter, Haylie McCleney doubled over the shortstop to bring both runners in to score, and later scored herself on a sacrifice fly to give USA a 3-0 lead.

Canada went down in order in both the fourth and fifth innings, while the Americans managed a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. Team Canada finally broke up the perfect game with one out in the top of the sixth when Speers singled up the middle for Canadaâ€™s first hit. However, Canada was unable to push her any further. The United States added another run in the bottom of the sixth after Kelsey Stewart led off with a triple and scored on a single by Mysha Sataraka, increasing the lead to 4-0.

Canada got a runner on base in the seventh when Groenewegen was hit by a pitch with two outs, but the following batter struck out to end the game.

Groenewegen allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts, while the Canadian defence made several great plays to help keep the game close.

Box score and play-by-play: Canada 0 vs. United States 4

The loss dropped Canada to second place in Pool A with a record of 5-1, while the United States improved their first place record to 5-0. Canada will take on New Zealand (4-1) at 7:30pm EDT on Thursday to conclude the preliminary round in a game that may determine second place in the division.

In other scores on Day 3 of the event, Japan thumped Brazil 8-2; China defeated Singapore 10-1 in five innings; New Zealand edged the Czech Republic 3-1; Australia got by Mexico 5-3; the Netherlands downed Botswana 7-2; Great Britain edged the Czech Republic 3-2; Brazil defeated Singapore 6-0; Japan beat Botswana 15-0 in three innings; USA run-ruled Puerto Rico 15-0 in three innings; and New Zealand blanked Korea 7-0 in six innings.

Live streaming by SportsCanada.tv is available at a one-time cost of $10.00 for the entire tournament, and live Pointstreak scoring will be available free for all tournament games. The official tournament website can be found at http://www.jwwc2013.com.

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