Canada Shuts Out Venezuela  at Pan American Championship
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(Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) The Canadian Senior Women’s National Team blanked Venezuela 1-0 after rain pushed the game back from noon to late Monday night at the VIII Pan American Championship in Puerto Rico. Jenna Caira (Toronto, ON) fired a three-hitter, while Canada scored the only run of the game on an RBI single by Jen Yee (North Delta, BC) in the bottom of the fourth.   Caira struck out the first batter of the game, but the following hitter doubled to right field before a ground out and a fly out left her on base. Heather Ebert (Rosthern, SK) hit a one-out single in the bottom of the second, but a double play quickly ended the inning. The following inning, Kelsey Haberl (Burnaby, BC) was hit by a pitch and replaced on the base paths by Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, BC) who was sacrificed to second but a pop out and a ground out ended the threat.   Venezuela managed to get a one-out single in the top of the fourth, but Caira responded by striking out the next two batters. In the bottom of the frame, Victoria Hayward (Toronto, ON) slapped a ball to third base that was thrown away at first, allowing her to advance to second. Yee stepped up and drove her in with a single, followed by another single by Jenny Gilbert (Saskatoon, SK) to put two runners on base with no outs. However, a fielder’s choice and a double play ended the inning with Canada holding a 1-0 lead.   After two quick outs in the top of the fifth, Venezuela produced a single and forced a walk, but Caira induced a ground out to shortstop to keep Venezuela off the scoreboard. She then retired the side in order in the sixth and seven innings to earn the complete game shutout.   Box Score: Canada 1 vs. Venezuela 0   Canada (2-1) is scheduled to play a doubleheader on Tuesday, taking on Peru (1-1) at 11:30am EDT followed by Belize (0-3) at 2:00pm EDT. In other action on Monday, Colombia edged Argentina 3-2, Brazil defeated Aruba 3-1, the United States beat Cuba 5-1, the Dominican Republic powered by Belize 13-0, Guatemala was shut out by Mexico 2-0 but bounced back with a 7-0 win over Peru, and Puerto Rico defeated Mexico 4-1.   The tournament website can be found at http://clasico-panamericano.softballpr.net/, with streaming of some games available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/15266213. Canada’s two games on Tuesday will not be webstreamed.
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 For more information, please contact:
 Gilles LeBlanc  Manager - Marketing and Communications  Softball Canada  (613) 523-3386 ext. 3105 gleblanc@softball.ca
